Ready To Look Younger? See Your Dentist

Cosmetic surgery is a popular specialty of medicine that has been growing rapidly for decades. For many of us, youth is associated with vitality and beauty. Aging is not an easy thing to do and we often seek help to keep us looking and feeling younger and more vibrant. When seeking out cosmetic surgery, many people overlook the role our teeth play in our appearance. As we age, our teeth become darker, worn down, and may change alignment. This can create not only cosmetic issues, but functional ones as well. These functional issues can lead to Temperomandibular Joint (TMJ) issues, headaches, and muscle pain.

How Can My Dentist Make Me Look Younger?

As our teeth wear over time, it can result in a shorter looking face, longer looking teeth, and darker teeth. The resulting appearance can cause you to appear to age prematurely. The breakdown can be caused by tooth erosion (high acid wear), attrition (flattening and fracturing due to grinding and oral habits), and abrasion (overly aggressive brushing), and recession (loss of gum tissue making teeth appear longer). The length and shape of our faces and teeth, as well as the position of the jaw are determined by the teeth, skeletal bones, and a person’s bite. So, when a person’s teeth wear down, it will give the appearance of a shorter face. Pain and discomfort are also associated with the wearing down of teeth and gums. As they become more sensitive, prone to increased fractures, and the development of TMJ and headache pain.

Your dentist can help to change all of this, by allowing the patient to look more youthful while correcting dental issues. The patients oral hygiene must be good and the mouth should be in a healthy state before any cosmetic work can be completed. This includes managing periodontal disease, removal of any loose teeth, addressing gum loss issues, ascertaining desired whiteness, and correcting poor oral habits. Great precision must be used when returning someone's smile to their proper tooth height (vertical dimension) as it can create even more TMJ and headache issues if not done properly.

Procedures that can make you look younger include:

1. Porcelain Crowns - these crowns will give the cosmetic appearance most patients are seeking, but also give the strength and stability to open one’s bite. A type of strong porcelain which is used where teeth grinding has been a problem, is a Bruxzir crown. When placed properly, a patient will begin to see an immediate improvement in their bite and in the cosmetic appearance in the skin around the face as wrinkles will lessen.

2. Porcelain Veneers - a staple of cosmetic dentistry but used in conjunction with porcelain crowns to lengthen and restore the length of front teeth. Porcelain veneers are less invasive and more conservative than porcelain crowns. For teeth that do not require a full coverage crown, porcelain veneers can lengthen and reshape, and change the color of your smile.

3. Orthodontics - limited or full orthodontics may be necessary to remove any bite issues that can cause undue stress or trauma to the teeth before new restorations are placed.

4. Dental Bonding - used to restore any teeth that have been damaged by tooth decay, staining or slight wear. Dental bonding is a cosmetically pleasing option that will look very natural once completed.

5. Crown Lengthening - a surgical process to expose more tooth structure so that there is enough room to properly place a crown. This is often necessary in severe teeth grinding cases.

6. Gum and Bone Grafting and Recontouring - lost bone and gum tissue can often times be grafted to help regrow them. They can also be reshaped surgically to be healthier, easier to work with, and more cosmetically appealing.

7. Teeth Whitening - many of our worn teeth are also dark and discolored. The color you desire may require a dental whitening process, or a whiter color bonding restoration, or a whiter colored porcelain restoration.

8. Botox and Juvederm - both have the ability to remove fine wrinkles around the eyes, forehead and mouth, giving you a younger appearance almost immediately.

Cosmetic dentistry will change not only how your teeth function, but how you feel about yourself. Many dentists often overlook the relationship between our teeth and our bite. If the bite is not in alignment, your teeth and face will never look and feel their best.