The Effects Of Aging On Your Smile

Life takes its toll on all of us. As we age our hair greys, we lose dexterity and strength, and it’s harder and harder to stay in shape. None of those changes are as devastating as the changes to our teeth: they wear down, they become damaged, and they even fall out. Having dental problems isn’t a pleasant way to spend your later years!

All of your dental problems compound on each other, and before you know it you’re suffering from another common problem: facial collapse. The distance between your chin and nose may be shrinking, or you may notice a lot of creases and folds in your skin that come along with a sinking smile. These problems can have a serious effect on your happiness and quality of life!

We’re proud to be able to turn back the clock at our Carmel dentist office. Using a technique known as a non-surgical facelift we can bring back your youthful smile, jawline, and appearance. It can be ridiculously simple to get your smile back!

Why Jawlines Collapse

Tooth wear, tooth damage, and tooth loss are all problems that we face as we age. These problems can all result in a change to our jawline that has a drastic effect on how we look. You’ve surely seen older people who have a sunken face: their mouths are ringed with wrinkles, their jaw looks collapsed, and it’s a safe bet that they’re missing at least some of their teeth.

It can be frustrating to consider a future like that – you’ll look prematurely aged, you’ll have other health problems associated with tooth loss, and there’s a good chance you’ll have a shorter life expectancy as well.

Worn teeth are one cause of jawline change, but lost teeth are the most devastating by far. When teeth are lost to gum disease or tooth decay the bone that holds them ends up dissolving as well, leaving you with less and less mass between your teeth and chin.

The loss of one tooth usually leads to the loss of others as well. Bone mass loss doesn’t stop – once it starts it’s practically impossible to get rid of for good. As more and more teeth are lost your jaw shrinks more and more, eventually leaving you with practically no bone left in your jaw at all.

Damage to teeth can increase your chances of losing them, whether it’s cavities caused by worn enamel, trauma that ends up necessitating extraction, or any other problem that results in the weakening or destabilizing of a tooth. The end result of damage and poor oral health care is always the same: tooth loss and then bone loss.

Restoring Your Lost Look

If you wear dentures, or know someone who does, you can probably tell they aren’t quite real. There’s something about removable false teeth that isn’t quite right. The wrinkles and folds in the skin that are caused by bone loss are still present, and dentures never seem to fit quite right.

If you’re left worrying about the continued change of your face shape you might feel like time is running out. A lot of patients we see assume that there’s an end point where restoring their appearance is no longer necessary. Thankfully we have non-surgical methods available at Really Smile Dentistry that can be combined to restore your fading look well before it’s too late!

Our non-surgical facelifts are performed with the goal of reconstructing your original facial profile. We’ll use any number of reconstructive treatments needed to restore your look, including bridges to restore missing teeth, veneers and bonds to undo the damage caused by tooth wear, and even advanced cosmetic dentures that are practically indistinguishable from natural teeth. No matter what we need to do to restore your look we’ll work hard to make it happen!

The Beginning Of Your Treatment Is Just A Phone Call Away!

In order to determine the treatment that is best for you we’ll need to have a face-to-face meeting for a consultation and thorough exam of your dental health. Once we know the state of your smile we can make the ideal recommendations for treatment and get you on the road to complete dental satisfaction.

Don’t spend another day waiting for your looks to fade and your jaw to collapse – take action to stop those changes in the process by calling our Carmel office at 317-597-8748! You can also request a consultation online. We look forward to seeing you soon!