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You are here: Home / Culture / How Do Morticians Keep a Dead Person’s Mouth Shut and What Tools Are Used To Close the Lips?

How Do Morticians Keep a Dead Person’s Mouth Shut and What Tools Are Used To Close the Lips?

June 11, 2020 by Karen Hill

Here’s how morticians keep a dead person’s mouth shut.

Before embalming, it wasn’t uncommon to tie gauze or string around the chin and head until rigor mortis set in.

Today undertakers pass a suture through the nasal septum and tie it to the lower lip.

Or they use an injector needle gun to place wires into the lower and upper jaws.

These are then twisted together to close the mouth.

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Filed Under: Culture

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Why Do Some People Put Pennies On the Eyes of Dead People and Where Did the Practice Come From?
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