If the mouth is turned down at the corners and for some reason the angulus oris eminences are not visible, this will leave the mouth with an appearance of a neutral or even negative expression. To understand this, examine your own face in the mirror. Begin by totally relaxing your face. See the position of the corners of your mouth and observe the flatness just above the corners. Now think of something pleasant and allow yourself to smile just slightly. As you look in the mirror, notice how the corners of your mouth begin to turn up and the eminences above them become more evident. This slight change in the position of the corners of the mouth and the angulus oris eminences makes a tremendous difference in the appearance of the deceased, just as it made a tremendous difference in your own face as you watched it in the mirror. For the embalmer to be able to establish this expression on the mouth, there must be sufficient foundation for the upper and lower integumentary lip. It’s quite advantageous to use a material such as Inr-Seel for any filling which must be done, since this mastic material is able to be molded with greater success than cotton, and Inr-Seel will maintain the position you leave the features in. When the foundation has been put into place, then the mucus membrane portion of the lips should be placed into proper position. When the positioning of the mouth is completed, the corners should be positioned as has just been explained. If the mouth does not want to stay in that position, you may need to remove some Inr-Seel or add more of it. The embalmer will find there is no substitute for practice in achieving success with this. The establishment of the angulus oris eminences can be achieved by using the blunt end of an aneurysm hook. The eminence is slightly elevated in comparison to the upper integumentary lip, with a border curving in toward the mouth. The Mouth Looks Too Full There can be several reasons why the mouth of the deceased can look full or, on some individuals, pursed. If the mouth has been overfilled with cotton or Inr-Seel, or if the mouth former has not been properly fitted, these things can cause the lips to protrude unnaturally. Another explanation may be that the mouth has been closed too tightly. Especially if the deceased does not have their own teeth and dentures are unavailable, it is common to close the mouth without leaving the proper spacing between the mandible and the maxilla. When the mouth is closed too tightly, the integumentary lip will push out, producing a full or pursed expression. The embalmer must rely on his or her own judgment to determine the amount of space between the upper and lower jaw so as to produce a natural looking mouth closure. When someone has their own teeth or dentures, you should position the jaws so that there is a 1/8” to 1/4” gap between the upper and lower rows of teeth. When teeth or dentures are missing, the embalmer must add this distance to the estimated space the teeth or dentures would have taken up when determining how to position the jaws. One sure sign that the mouth has been closed too tightly is unnatural looking skin folds. These will usually occur in two places. One is directly beneath the root of the nose, in the philtrum. This fold will be horizontal and will disappear when the tension on the injector needle has been relieved slightly. The other folds which can be seen when the mouth is closed too tightly are at the corners of the mouth. If you have creases here which disappear when the injector needles are loosened slightly, the mouth was probably closed too tightly. Since it is more closely examined than any other feature on the deceased, extra attention to foundation building and positioning of the mouth is essential to ensure the satisfaction of the family. The appearance of the mouth will also determine the first impression of all the other individuals viewing the deceased — and therefore their first impression of you as a professional. One of the most frequent questions we get asked is regarding lip cosmetizing. I’ve been asked countless times whether we manufacture “a good lip color.” Well, as the saying goes, “There’s good news, and there’s bad news.” The good news is that Dodge manufactures several blended cosmetics which will provide a natural cosmetic treatment for lips. The bad news is that we don’t manufacture a lip cosmetic which is perfect for every set of lips, or even one cosmetic which can be used for every male (or female) of any one race. The sad truth is, if you desire a perfect lip cosmetic to be used on each deceased body you treat, you will need to blend it yourself. While the cosmetic which is in the jar on your shelf will, in many cases, provide an acceptable color, in many cases it will not. Knowing how to blend other cosmetics into this base lip color is the tool which will help you achieve superior results in every case. There are several different cosmetics which are compounded to be used on the mucous membrane portion of the lips. I can remember when I was first around the funeral home in my hometown 40 years ago seeing bottles of Merthiolate sitting on the shelf in the preparation room. Since we used this product at home for cuts and scrapes, I assumed that it was in the preparation room for the same reason. I found out later that this was the lip cosmetic which was used on most of the male calls. Surprisingly enough, Directors Digest | 11
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