Our bodies change as we age, but not always for the better. Over time, our cheeks can appear sunken, jowls can form, and some people may even develop a ptotic, or witch’s, chin. Did you know that a beautiful smile can address many of these issues? As we grow older, wear and tear causes our teeth to shorten. Our bite can become misaligned, and in some cases, we may lose one or more teeth. This causes an array of detrimental effects to our facial structure. Fortunately, cosmetic dentistry provides patients with a non-surgical option for regaining their youthful visage. In today’s blog, Dr. James Fondriest, explains how our cosmetic dental face lifts can provide a younger appearance.
How Poor Dental Health Ages Our Face
Do you grind your teeth or clench your jaw? Also known as bruxism, grinding your teeth can wear down your teeth. With shortened teeth, a patient appears older. But the greatest harm to our facial structure results from missing teeth. Even if a patient loses a single tooth, this affects the entire smile. Once a tooth is lost, the body responds by suspending the flow of nutrients to the jawbone surrounding the lost tooth. Starved of crucial doses of calcium and phosphorus, the bone begins to degrade. This increases the risk of further tooth loss.
In addition, the teeth adjacent to the missing tooth may begin to drift towards the empty socket. This causes misalignment, which makes chewing and speaking difficult. As patients lose more teeth and experience further loss of bone density, their facial structures start to change. Soon, jowls, sunken cheeks, ptotic chins, and a host of other facial imperfections start to appear. Thankfully, with cosmetic dentistry these problems can often be reversed.
Artistic Smile Design is the Planning Part of Cosmetic Dental Face lifts
Dr. Fondriest believes in artistic dentistry. When you schedule a consultation with Dr. Fondriest, he performs a thorough oral examination. He studies your dental health; speech patterns, facial asymmetries, and lip drape to prescribe treatment that reflects your personality. The goal is to provide a dental restoration specifically designed for you, returning your smile to optimal function and appearance while rolling back the clock.
Why do we call it a face lift and how is it done?
As we age, gravity pulls the facial mask down. As our face droops, the lips cover more of the teeth. Your smile doesn’t look as good. If we lengthen your teeth, it brings back the impact of your smile. It effectively makes you look younger.
Cosmetic techniques that can give you a dental face lift
Dr. Fondriest provides an array of cosmetic techniques to restore your smile. Each is designed to address one or several imperfections, offering non-surgical cosmetic dental face lifts and a gorgeous smile. Our services include:
Cosmetic Bonding:
Using a composite resin, Dr. Fondriest can repair fractured or broken teeth, reshape malformed teeth, and hide embarrassing discoloration. Dr. Fondriest applies several thin layers of the resin, molding and sculpting the material as the resin cures.When comparing bonding vs veneers, porcelain veneers will look better and last longer.
Porcelain Veneers can offer dramatic cosmetic dental face lifts:
Veneers allow Dr. Fondriest to lengthen teeth and repair cracked or chipped teeth. Veneers can also erase permanent stains, close gaps between teeth, and correct the appearance of misaligned smiles. Dr. Fondriest simply places thin shells of durable, stain-resistant porcelain onto a patient’s front teeth. With veneers, patients receive an instant smile transformation that can last for decades.
Dental Bridges:
Do you have one or more missing teeth? For quality tooth replacement, Dr. Fondriest offers dental bridges. A dental bridge involves a replacement tooth with crowns attached to each side. The crowns are placed on the teeth sitting on either side of the missing tooth, anchoring the replacement tooth into place, allowing patients to regain a whole smile.
Dental Implants:
With dental implants, a biocompatible post is placed into the socket of the missing tooth. The bone tissue bonds with the post, preventing bone loss and securing the implant. A natural looking crown is placed on top of the post. Dental implants can provide a lifetime of strong and esthetically pleasing smile restoration.
Schedule a consultation to learn more about Cosmetic Dental Face lifts
Interested in regaining a youthful appearance through our cosmetic procedures? Learn more about the many tooth enhancements available at all costs and scopes of treatment. A healthy smile doesn’t just affect your teeth, but helps maintain your overall health, as well. We offer patients the latest in innovative restorative and cosmetic dental procedures to obtain healthy, beautiful smiles. Our office welcomes patients from the North Shore suburbs of Chicago.