Bill HangDental Practitioner, Lecturer at OrthO2Health

The Case Against Facial Muscle Strain - William M. Hang, DDS, MSD

15 Aug 2013 · 1 min

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In this brief lecture, Dr. William M. Hang describes the clinical presentation of mentalis muscle strain, commonly referred to as a "stippled" or "golf‑ball" chin. He explains that the mentalis muscle should not be responsible for lip closure; instead, the orbicularis oris muscle should perform this function. When the mentalis is over‑used, the chin appears uneven and less rounded. By re‑educating patients to use the orbicularis oris correctly, a smoother, more aesthetically pleasing chin contour can be achieved. Dr. Hang illustrates the concept with an early BioBlock Orthotropics case, showing the before‑and‑after improvement.

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Mentalis strain. Very easy to see right here. Whenever you see it, we call it stippled chin, golf ball chin, because golf balls are stippled. It's not a very nice thing to say, but people use that in orthodontics. So, mentalis strain. The mentalis muscle should not be used to close the lips. The orbicularis oris muscle should. And if the orbicularis oris muscle is being used, then the mentalis muscle doesn't need to do that. So whenever you see this, that's the mentalis muscle is being used. So you want to get the orbicularis oris muscle to be used properly, and then you're going to have the more nice— a nicer contour of the chin here, which is rounded out. And this looks a whole lot nicer than this. And she did BioBlock Orthotropics, one of my first cases. Thank you.