Lower Lip Repair After Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Wedged Excision in Dallas*

After removal of a Squamous Cell Carcinoma to the lower lip, this patient was in need of lower lip reconstruction. Dr. Parker was able to complete a vertical wedge excision repair to get the best results for this patient. After 6 weeks, the patient was back to feeling confident with his appearance. There are numerous techniques used for repairing the lower lip of varying complexity. Some of the more complex procedures involve flipping part of the upper lip down to the lower lip and sewing the lips together for a few weeks! Obviously that can be a difficult recovery for patients to endure. However, the art of plastic surgery is choosing the simplest technique that gives the best result. The wedge excision technique is one of the more straightforward techniques, and can be used to close defects often involving a 1/3 of the lower lip width. When defects exceed 1/3 of the lower lip width, this technique can lead to narrowing of the mouth that can make eating or removal/insertion of retainers/dentures difficult. For wider defects other techniques are considered.