Do Lip Fillers Change Your Smile?

Lip fillers are among the most popular lip augmentation treatments in the world, because they require little downtime, cause minimal side effects, and provide instantly visible results.

According to a 2017 statistics report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the use of soft tissue injectables have increased by 312% since 2000. However, our patients at Ethos Spa often ask how dermal fillers can affect the way they smile. 

Do lip fillers change the way you smile? Lip fillers can improve the shape of your smile and enhance the way your mouth looks, but the difference won’t be too noticeable with an expert’s touch. 

Do Lip Fillers Affect Your Smile? 

Lip fillers can modify the shape of your smile, define Cupid’s bows, and create more asymmetry to your mouth. If done correctly, these injectables can beautifully highlight your smile. However, in less than experienced hands, these injectables can completely alter your mouth’s dimensions. A common mistake made by aestheticians is overfilling the lips, since they failed to account for the face’s overall symmetry. 

Lip Fillers and How They Work 

Lip fillers are injectable, soft tissue dermal fillers that can increase the volume in your lips. Modern dermal fillers commonly contain a substance called hyaluronic acid. This clear, gooey substance can naturally be found in the body, in areas like your skin, joints, and other connective tissues. 

Hyaluronic acid fillers work by attracting and retaining water to keep your lips plump and moist. Lip injectables can help people: 

• Add volume to their lips
• Adjust undefined upper lips or Cupid’s bows 
• Address disproportional top and bottom lips
• Perk up corners that are turned down
• Moisten dry, cracked lips 

A filler can only alter the shape of a patient’s mouth drastically if most of the lip filler is directly injected into the parentheses lines around the mouth. Overfilling this area will cause lip puffiness, rather than a subtle boost to the pout. 

Overfilling: A Common Lip Filler Mistake 

The Problem: Some people tend to request for excess lip filler to be injected during their treatment, as they try to mimic celebrities like Kylie Jenner. However, this causes a problem for their smiles, because the teeth disappear when the lips grow too big. 

Overfilling becomes a bigger problem as people get older, because the top lip has a tendency to become longer. With your lips naturally falling forward, your teeth are less visible when you smile. Excessively adding lip filler can push this lip further and cover your teeth when you smile. 

The Solution: For the most part, this problem can be prevented by a good doctor. The outcome heavily relies on technique and planning. Regardless of the lip filler used, a well-trained doctor can create an enhanced but natural smile with the proper technique. 

Your doctor should also plan ahead for how your new lips will fit in with the rest of your face. This is why some doctors recommend spacing out lip injections over several sessions, rather than injecting the lip filler in a single session. Doing so will help you see how your mouth changes gradually. 

How Lip Fillers Can Improve Your Smile 

With careful treatment by experienced hands, injectables can give you a million-dollar smile. Here are a few ways dermal injectables help improve smiles: 

• Lip fillers add volume and definition to the lips

Lip augmentation through dermal fillers can effectively enlarge the lips of patients who want to alter the appearance of their mouth. A good injector would only use a conservative amount of filler during the initial procedure to avoid creating “duck bill” shaped lips for the patient. 

• Lip fillers improve the signs of aging in the mouth area

Dermal fillers have been FDA-approved to treat facial wrinkles for years, so these can be used to improve signs of aging in the lips and around the mouth. Signs of aging in the mouth are: drooping, loss of volume, and lip lines extending above and below the lip border. 

Lip injections can fill in these areas and rejuvenate the lips, as some filler variants can also stimulate collagen production in the treatment areas. 

• Lip fillers boost face symmetry 

Everyone in the world was born with an asymmetrical face, which means their features don’t look symmetrical on both sides. However, the asymmetrical features of some people are more noticeable than others, which makes them more conscious. 

Causes of lip asymmetry include: 

• Genetics: Certain facial features and asymmetry can run in a family. 
• Ageing: Volume in the face is naturally lost as you age, and your lips are no exception. Thinning lips are a common reason to undergo lip injections. 
• Dentition: Dentures, extractions, or veneers may affect the way your lips fall over your teeth and cause asymmetry. 

Dermal injectables can boost face symmetry by balancing uneven lips. Small amounts of lip filler can add volume and improve the shape and symmetry of your lips.

Lip Filler and Smile Types 

There are three specific smile types that can be treated with dermal injectables: gummy smiles, weird smiles, and thin smiles. 

• Gummy smile 

Gummy smiles refer to smiles in which a prominent portion of the gum in the upper jaw is seen. Injectables can correct gummy smiles by increasing the volume in the upper lip to block the gums. It’s best if your doctor balances this out by injecting the bottom lip as well. 

• Weird smile

Some smiles look a little odd, and injectables can definitely modify these weirdly-shaped smiles. Your doctor may inject the dermal filler around the smile lines, which can fill in and erase the lines around the mouth. 

• Thin smile

Lip fillers work best for patients who have thin lips, since they can add to the lacking volume and plumpness. However, there is a difference between having thin lips and a “thin” way of smiling – injectables will not be able to help patients who pull in their upper lip when they smile.

Lip Filler FAQs: 

Q: Am I allowed to smile after getting a lip filler? 

A: Yes. In fact, you are encouraged to smile and massage your lips after getting lip injections. It will help spread the product and create a more natural-looking result. 

Q: Will I have to live with a “bad” smile if my treatment doesn’t go well?

A: It depends. Some injectables don’t disintegrate easily. However, common dermal fillers can be forcefully dissolved if needed and your mouth will look the way it was before. 

Q: Can I smile naturally after getting lip fillers? 

A: There is a stigma of looking “unnatural” after getting cosmetic work done, but a major factor causing smiles to look exaggerated is the expertise of the injector. With an injector or doctor you trust, your mouth will still look natural after the injection. 

Finding a Reliable Lip Filler Injector in NJ

To achieve the look you want for your lips, it’s important to find a reliable injector who can conduct the procedure safely and effectively. 

At Ethos Spa, Skin and Laser Center in New Jersey, we have helped thousands of patients get their ideal lips. Whether you’re looking for a clinic to experiment with dermal fillers, undergo maintenance or “top-up” treatments, our doctors and nurses are sure to give your satisfactory results. 

Contact us today at Ethos Spa to learn more about our lip augmentation services or to schedule an appointment. 

Learn more: What is Lip Flipping?