Evaluation of the internal dual muscle traction approach as an adjunct to the modified surgical lip repositioning method: A randomized clinical report

Objective Modified surgical lip repositioning (MLR) is a conservative method for correcting gummy smile (GS). However, its long-term evaluation in the prevention of relapse following lip repositioning surgeries remains questionable. This long-term study was therefore conducted to assess MLR with and without an adjunctive internal dual muscle traction approach (iMTA) in the treatment of GS. Methods This study was performed on 20 cases with GS. They were randomly and equally distributed to be treated either by MLR alone (Control) or augmented with iMTA (Test). Participants were assessed for GS reduction at 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively. The patient's satisfaction scores were assessed at 12 months in both groups. Results The control participants revealed in a remarkable decrease in gingival exposure (2.7 mm ± 0.48) (P-value ≤ 0.05), while the test ones demonstrated a more significant reduction in GS (1.6 mm ± 0.52) (P-value ≤ 0.05). Satisfaction scores were significantly reported in the test group (9.3 ± 0.78 when compared to the control group (7.8 ± 1.3), (P-value ≤ 0.05). Conclusions Within the limits of this study, our long-term results revealed that MLR is an effective method for treating GS, while iMTA offered more stable results at 12 months when used as an adjunct to MLR.