Can the Upper Vermilion and the Nasolabial Fold Be Changed With Orthognathic Surgery?

Background: Retrusive profiles show an appearance of aging with an under-projected vermilion and pronounced nasolabial folds due to deficient bone support.

Purpose: A study was made of the association between orthognathic surgery and changes in the nasolabial and vermilion areas in patients with retrusive profiles.

Study Design, Setting, Sample: A retrospective cohort study evaluated patients subjected to bimaxillary surgery according to the Barcelona Line (BL) protocol during 2021 at Teknon Medical Center (Barcelona, Spain). Subjects with craniofacial syndromes, facial esthetic procedures, and dental rehabilitations involving lip changes, were excluded.

Predictor Variable: The predictor variable was the timing of cephalometric measures, reported as T0 (preoperatively), T1 (1 month after surgery), and T2 (after 1 year of follow-up).

Main Outcome Variable: The outcome variable corresponded to the soft tissue changes of the nasolabial and vermilion area, reported as the nasolabial fold length and angle, nasolabial angle, upper lip concavity, vermilion length, and upper lip sagittal distance from BL.

Covariates: The covariates comprised patient demographic data, the surgical-orthodontic protocol, and the magnitude and direction of the skeletal movements.

Analyses: Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed based on analysis of variance, the Bonferroni test, Pearson's linear coefficient, the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and multiple linear regression models. Statistical significance was considered for P < .05.

Results: The sample comprised 27 subjects with a mean age of 32.5 ± 11.2 years. A mean decrease in nasolabial angle of 5.5 ± 6° was recorded (P < .001), with a shortening of the nasolabial fold length of 4.4 ± 7.6 mm (P = .019). An increase in upper lip concavity angle of 14.4 ± 12° was recorded (P < .001), along with a vermilion lengthening of 1.6 ± 1.3 mm (P < .001) and an increase in upper lip sagittal distance to BL of 5.7 ± 7.3 mm (P = .001), indicating a more projected and everted upper vermilion.

Conclusions And Relevance: When adequate dentoskeletal support is provided by specific positional changes of the jaws planned through orthognathic surgery, the length of the nasolabial fold decreases, and the upper vermilion lengthens and becomes slightly everted.