Q: I am a 22 years old male, had an injury two months back. Someone put me in a headlock, caught me around my mouth and squeezed my face so hard that my tooth actually punctured the bottom left side of my lip. Though the wound has completely healed now, when I press the lip, it feels like there is some hard tissue there. When under light, it looks as if a big chunk of skin is missing from my lips. Is this because of bad suture job or something else? What should I do to get it corrected? Does this require plastic surgery?

A:Hardness in the wound is not unusual: wait for a few weeks, and it will get less. As for the cosmetic defect, you may or may not need to get it corrected. However, you will know for sure only after several months. Contact a plastic surgeon after another four months, if you still think that the defect is cosmetically unacceptable. I cannot say if the suture job was good or bad. However, a good cosmetic result is difficult to achieve in an acute injury from a tooth. These injuries are associated with a lot of infection.