Should teeth be visible when lips are half-open?

Today, Katerina Stikoudi uploaded this photo with half-open lips, on her Instagram account. If you focus on her mouth, you will see that through her half-open lips you can see about 4 mm of her front upper teeth. 

From an orthodontic point of view, half-open lips are considered ideal aesthetics.

Today, photos of a case that is being treated with “invisible” braces were also taken in our office, at an intermediate phase. This case underwent orthodontic treatment due to the unsatisfactory aesthetic result from previous orthodontics by a colleague (lasting 2 years without any extractions). At the end of the orthodontic treatment, although teeth were “straight”, the patient’s smile was not attractive. This happened because the teeth were actually “buck teeth” and literally hidden with half-open lips, contrary to this picture of Katerina Stikoudi. 

Within six months, the improvement of the patient’s smile and the projection of the upper teeth with half-open lips is remarkable. There is even room for further improvement. This was made possible by two extractions in the upper jaw. They made it possible to render the inclination of the upper anterior teeth normal, and to ensure their natural position in relation to the upper lip. You can see more such orthodontic cases on our website.

What would you choose? Teeth “straightening”, with an “unnatural” result and with half-open lips? Or “normal” orthodontics, taking into account all the above parameters, even if it is necessary to sacrifice permanent teeth to achieve the ideal result? 

Having straight teeth does not necessarily imply having a good aesthetic result! The harmony of the teeth with the lips is most important. An excellent example is the flawless result seen in Katerina Stikoudi.

Learn more about orthodontics in our blog!