We try to think of all oral issues that can affect your children. Today’s topic may even be applicable to you since lip plumpers are all the rage right now. If you have any concerns about oral health, call us at(918) 455-7700.
Lip plumpers, which have been popularized by reality stars like Kylie Jenner, could be bad for your teeth. Several of us adults spent an afternoon trying out these red suction cup lip plumpers. We were trying to see if we could get super-pouts but also testing them out for our teens (wink, wink). But it wasn’t the waste of time that came from trying to suck your lips bigger that bothered us, it was the potential risk to our teeth. Some of us could literally feel the suction cup pulling at our teeth. Surely that can’t be good for you. If you or your teen has ever worn braces, there is nothing on this green earth that could persuade you to undo that alignment. But are our teens and tweens who are using the suction cups to plump up their lips, putting their teeth at risk?
We let the dentists here weigh in on this and here’s what they determined. Overuse of suction cup lip plumpers can cause misalignment of the teeth due to the outward pressure of the suction. Over time, this could make the teeth protrude and stick out which may need to be corrected by time-consuming and costly orthodontic treatment. Devices such as these can also cause swelling and bruising of the lips (and sometimes permanent scarring) when used excessively. Their advice is to use these devices sensibly and with caution. In short: yes, the suction cups could actually be sucking your teeth out of alignment.
We’re not suggesting that a couple of quick sessions with the plumper is going leave your teen with a chronic overbite, but the problem with the plumpers is that you need to use them a lot to see any result.
If you’d really rather not allow your teen to artificially swell their lips for aesthetic purposes then fear not, there are other options. You can invest in a really good lip liner and learn how to draw on an optical illusion of a fuller lip. There are scores of tips on YouTube on how to do this. It’s a much safer way to achieve fuller lips.
In the end, you’d have to ask your teen this question, “Which is more important – straight teeth or fuller lips?” and hope they select the correct answer!
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