Metal Mouth Message Board

Hey there. I am currently receiving a second opinion from an ortho & a surgeon regarding treatment. This will be round 2 for me, having had braces, both upper & lower surgery, and a genioplasty almost 20 years ago. I'm not sure if my bones had a relapse or if my face was still growing when it was initially done, but I'm definitely at a place where I have to go through it again to correct some of the misalignment I am currently experiencing. I also have mentalis muscle strain, which I I lovingly refer to as my chin cellulite...haha...not so funny, but I have to laugh at myself so as not become overly insecure or depressed about it. I don't recall having this prior to my original surgery, but it appears to be getting worse over time.

One surgeon has told me that he can't get rid of the dimpling through the surgery, while the new orthodontist I have went for a consult with thinks it can be reduced. I hope the second opinion is right

My question is to those of you who have had this issue. Have you found it to be resolved through your experience? I have read posts from a few members on this board who found they still had some of the dimplling after their surgeries, so I was wondering if it has since gotten better. Any guidance would be so appreciated

The mentalis strain is usually caused by forcing your muscles together to close your lips. If this is what you mean by dimpling, then improving the skeletal issues that cause or contribute to this, should provide improvement. What issues are you having surgery for?

Although I already had my upper jaw shortened to reduce my gummy smile, and my lower jaw advanced combined with a genioplasty, I still have vertical maxillary excess and my lower jaw & chin are still deficient. The surgery will be to correct this and my open bite. My teeth are also crooked again, so I need to have braces again as well.

I know that the mentalis strain is because my muscles have to work overtime to bring my lips together. I'm just concerned that since I never had it until I had my first surgery that the second surgery won't be able to correct it.

Are you saying you did NOT have ANY mentalis strain prior to your first surgery? Have seen posters who still had some mentalis strain after surgery, but not having it develop when it did not exist before the surgery. Maybe posters can contribute their input on this.

Yeah it developed after my first surgery, which I agree is quite unusual. And it has gotten worse. My new orthodontist thinks it might be scar tissue that has developed, although he thinks that the jaw surgeon might be able to correct it.

Has anyone else heard of this??

Oral surgeon and plastic surgeon told me some dimpling can be fixed with botox injected to the mentalis muscle.

Hi there! I have the exact same issue. I realize you posted this a couple years ago; how did your surgery go?

I believe I had mentalis strain slightly before my surgery, but it is definitely worsened over time. My jaw surgery was over 10 years ago and my sliding genioplasty was approx. 5 years ago. I have gotten botox injected many times as well as juvederm fillers to alleviate how it looks. I really, REALLY hate it. Although I am more satisfied with my profile then I was before, I find the dimpling is much worse then prior to my surgery, so much so that when i strain to close my mouth the bottom of my chin changes shape and looks "hill-ey" if that makes any sense.

I am curious as to if a second sliding genioplasty helped. Botox and juverderm are a temporary and rather expensive fix. I would love to get the genioplasty again and have my chin brought forward a little more so I can actually close my mouth without feeling as though it is strained.

danielle1987 wrote:Hi there! I have the exact same issue. I realize you posted this a couple years ago; how did your surgery go?

I believe I had mentalis strain slightly before my surgery, but it is definitely worsened over time. My jaw surgery was over 10 years ago and my sliding genioplasty was approx. 5 years ago. I have gotten botox injected many times as well as juvederm fillers to alleviate how it looks. I really, REALLY hate it. Although I am more satisfied with my profile then I was before, I find the dimpling is much worse then prior to my surgery, so much so that when i strain to close my mouth the bottom of my chin changes shape and looks "hill-ey" if that makes any sense.

I am curious as to if a second sliding genioplasty helped. Botox and juverderm are a temporary and rather expensive fix. I would love to get the genioplasty again and have my chin brought forward a little more so I can actually close my mouth without feeling as though it is strained.

Hi there,

Do you have a large gap between your lips when they're relaxed with your teeth together? If so then another genio probably won't help. Lip incompetence, which is having a gap between your lips over 5mm and mentalis/lip strain on forced closure, is usually caused by the upper jaw growing too long with the mandible positioned back and downward. This causes not only the appearance of a "short" upper lip but the lower lip often has poor posture (droopy and short) too. Do you have a gummy simle? And a lot of upper teeth showing behind your upper lip at rest? You already had (upper and lower?) jaw surgery so it's a little surprising you still have chin strain after although it's not uncommon.