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A lot of attention has been paid to how to create more attractive and sensuous lips. From injectable fillers to lipsticks and lip plumpers, enhancing the lips has much to do with altering the appearance of the pink portion of the lip. (vermilion) But an often overlooked area of the lip is what lies above it…the amount of skin between the nose and the upper lip. If this distance is too long, which often happens with aging, the lip looks smaller and less perky. While there are some dental strategies to help the lip look fuller (tooth lengthening), this produces at best a minimal improvement. The most aesthetic skin distance along the philtral columns of the upper lip (Upper Lip Length, ULL) is anywhere between 11 to 13mms for most women. (for men it can be a few millimiters longer) If you do not have an aesthetic ULL, it can be made by a procedure known as a subnasal lip which actually removes a strip of skin right underneath the nose. Shortening this distance also lifts up and makes the cupid bow’s area more full.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana

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