Smile Surgery

Smile surgery, also called smile reconstruction, is a surgical procedure that restores the ability to smile in people with facial nerve paralysis, a relatively common condition that causes loss of function in the muscles of facial expression. Because the facial nerve gives off several branches that separately control muscles such as the frontalis, the orbicularis oculi and oris, the lip elevators and depressors, and the platysma, paralysis of one or more branches can produce symptoms including incomplete eye closure, oral incompetence, poor articulation, drooling and low self-esteem. The branches that specifically control the elevators of the upper lip and the corner of the mouth are the zygomatic and buccal branches, and their paralysis leaves a person unable to form a symmetric smile.