Respond to the following discussion question for this module. Discuss various conditions that might make setting the eyes or the mouth difficult, such as dehydration or protruding teeth. Use resources such as other embalmers or your text book to talk about some of the treatments available for the condition you have chosen.  Answer the discussion board question  first, then respond to the other two people you agree or disagree and explain why?

First person  Reply to :  Dehydration can be a real pain when embalming and setting the features. From what I’ve read in the book, if the eyes are too sunken or have other complications due to dehydration, cotton is useful for packing a small amount inside and closing the upper lid and bottom lid over it and then using glue. Another option is to use eye caps and then use glue as well. For the mouth, when dealing with the buck teeth issue, I read that packing a bit of cotton in the lower portion of the mouth and then suturing through the mouth, then the nasal cavities, and back into the mouth is a good way to handle this case. I personally have no experience with it, but I can imagine it may be a bit tedious. I have had experience with a mouth with no teeth, however and for that we used a mouth former and the suture method I mentioned. The main thing to watch out for in this way of closing the mouth though is to not make a pucker in the chin where you are threading under the skin.

Second person reply to : There are a few conditions that might make setting the eyes or mouth difficult.  Some that I’ve seen are cause of death, length of illness and emaciation.  If a person has been bed ridden for months prior to death the face can become sunken.  Eye caps and cotton can help bring fullness to the eyes.  If a single eye cap does not give the embalming the desired result, using two eye caps in each location adds additional fullness.  A little cotton under the eye caps can also help.  I’m learning the cotton massaged with vaseline can work wonders with the mouth!  A mouth former of course is a quick solution but placing vaseline on the cotton and forming the cotton in the shape that will give the mouth a natural setting has proven to be most effective for me.  I may go a little full only to realize by the next day that the cotton has settled and the mouth looks quite natural.  After setting the facial features, it may be necessary to inject up to a little distention to bring fullness to the facial area.  We will then add cosmetics the following day or so for a pleasant final presentation.