The facial depressor muscles are an essential component of a full denture smile. In addition, the depressor muscles are actively used to express other human emotions such as sadness, anger, depression, and sorrow. Despite advances in microsurgical techniques, it is surprising how little effort has been directed toward reanimation of the lower lip. This article presents innovative approaches use...

IMPORTANCE Smiling can be a voluntary or involuntary movement. Facial reanimation procedures differ in their ability to restore a spontaneous smile, and an assay designed to evoke and evaluate a spontaneous smile is not available. OBJECTIVE To develop and validate an assay to assess the spontaneous smile of patients with facial paralysis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This was an explor...

IMPORTANCE The temporalis muscle has the potential to substitute for the function of paralyzed facial muscles in a single-stage procedure when transferred as a muscle-tendon unit (MTU). OBJECTIVE To measure the available excursion of the temporalis MTU after release from the coronoid. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Thirteen consecutive patients undergoing the temporalis MTU transfer proced...

Facial expression of emotion is a foundational aspect of social interaction and nonverbal communication. In this study, we use a computer-animated 3D facial tool to investigate how dynamic properties of a smile are perceived. We created smile animations where we systematically manipulated the smile's angle, extent, dental show, and dynamic symmetry. Then we asked a diverse sample of 802 partici...

Facial paralysis presents a significant and challenging reconstructive problem for plastic surgeons. An aesthetically pleasing and acceptable outcome requires not only good surgical skills and techniques, but also knowledge of facial nerve anatomy and an understanding of the causes of facial paralysis.The loss of the ability to move the face has both social and functional consequences for the p...

Permanent facial paralysis is a catastrophic event for involved patients. In long lasting paralysis with severe facial muscles atrophy, masseter muscle transfer is a very good choice. But its greatest problem is postoperative elongation of flap and gradual diminishing of early results and loss of symmetry. This article advocate a new modification for resolving this problem with concomitant elev...