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A Quantitative Analysis of Lip Aesthetics: The Influence of Gender and Aging

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  • Non-Surgical Aesthetic
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An Erratum to this article was published on 15 August 2015

Abstract

Introduction

The quantitative analysis of sexual dimorphism of facial structures may valuably support reconstructive and feminization surgery, thanks to the estimation of metrical thresholds useful for distinguishing male and female traits. This study aims at verifying the metrical characteristics of female and male lips, to provide indications for aesthetic surgery.

Methods

Thirty healthy Caucasian volunteers (20 men and 20 women) were divided into two groups according to age: 21–34 years and 45–65 years. Arches and the cutaneous (external) and mucosal (internal) labial surfaces were reproduced by stone models, and digitised using a computerised electromechanical instrument. Area, volume and thickness were measured separately for the upper and lower lips, and compared between sexes and ages by Student’s t test, and multinomial logistic regression.

Results

All lip measurements were larger in males than in females; upper lip thickness best divided males from females, adopting a 9.5-mm threshold (percentage of correct diagnosis: 85 %). Young subjects always showed higher measurements than old subjects; lower lip thickness provided the highest percentage of correct age diagnosis (85 %, adopting a 13.8-mm threshold).

Conclusion

This study provides novel thresholds that may contribute to the assessment of adequate reconstruction of lips in aesthetic surgery.

Level of Evidence III

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 31, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Daniele Gibelli, Marina Codari, Riccardo Rosati, Claudia Dolci, Gianluca Martino Tartaglia & Chiarella Sforza

  2. Sezione di Medicina Legale, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, LABANOF, Laboratorio di Antropologia e Odontologia Forense, Milan, Italy

    Daniele Gibelli & Cristina Cattaneo

Authors
  1. Daniele Gibelli
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  2. Marina Codari
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  3. Riccardo Rosati
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  4. Claudia Dolci
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  5. Gianluca Martino Tartaglia
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  6. Cristina Cattaneo
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  7. Chiarella Sforza
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Correspondence to Daniele Gibelli.

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Gibelli, D., Codari, M., Rosati, R. et al. A Quantitative Analysis of Lip Aesthetics: The Influence of Gender and Aging. Aesth Plast Surg 39, 771–776 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-015-0495-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-015-0495-7

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