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Your Dental Makeover: Discover How Plastic Surgery Relates To Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic dentistry and plastic surgery both blend health care with artistry and beautification. However, before we can beautify a person's smile, we must have a complete understanding of your dental makeover, not just an appreciation of, beauty.

Some of the first people to understand beauty were not health care specialists, but rather, artists. Great painters and sculptors studied anatomy, perspective, illusion, proportion, idealism and symmetry in order to recreate the beauty they saw.

Esthetic surgeons and cosmetic dentists create better-looking smiles. A cosmetic dentist creates pleasing-looking teeth, while the surgeon helps you feel more like smiling.

If cosmetic dentists and esthetic surgeons want to create beautiful smiles, they must begin to think like the great dental makeover artists. Michelangelo would never have considered one of his masterpieces complete until it was framed properly. The same goes for cosmetic dentistry. If we think of the teeth as the masterpiece, the frame is the surrounding soft tissue (such as the gums, jawbones, facial muscles, lips, and skin). We cannot consider one without the other.

Let's look at the areas of the face that contribute to the smile.

The Lips Form the Smile

The support of the lips is very important. If the teeth are properly contoured and there is a normal bite, the lip support is nearly always adequate. When it is inadequate, it is correctable.

Aside from the teeth, the chin also plays a role in the shape of the lips. A weak chin can give lips a protruded appearance. The solution is to increase the fullness of the chin through cosmetic plastic surgery.

The Mouth Is the Center of the Smile

The next area of cosmetic dentistry focus in your dental makeover is the shape of the mouth. The lips and the teeth are of primary importance to the support of the lips; however, the facial muscles of expression are what control the smile.

When the corners of the mouth are either turned up or down, they convey the feeling of happiness or sadness. Soft tissue corrections around the mouth should be corrected after the teeth and jawbones are corrected.

Other facial features that can be surgically altered to contribute to a terrific smile are:

• The nose may shadow the smile; The nose helps to proportion the smile in how it relates to the mouth and cheeks.
• The chin aids in determining facial balance; A prominent or deficient chin can affect facial symmetry.
• The jaws help shape the face and smile; A deficient upper or lower jaw can divert attention away from the smile and lay focus on the deficiency.
• The cheeks lift the corner of the smile; Sagging facial tissue that hides nicely-shaped lips, cheeks, and jawbones can be "lifted" to once again feature a pleasing smile.
• The brows and lids usually contribute greatly to the smile; thick upper eyelids that make people look tired or sad can be thinned.
• The skin may be wrinkled by smiling or frowning; Small facial muscles placing tension on the skin sometimes cause fine aging lines. They can be corrected through chemical peels, Botox injections, dermabrasion or a combination of these along with a facelift.

For further information on your dental makeover, consult with a cosmetic dentist, dermatologist or plastic surgeon. Each of these specialists works in close relationship with each other and can further counsel you on the best cosmetic dentistry treatment to improve your smile.

By Benjamin O. Watkins, III, DDS

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.

Dental Makeover: Does My Smile Make Me Look Older?

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Is the reflection you see not quite what you used to see? Do you say to yourself, "I don't feel any older, but I see an older person." Getting older is an inevitable process, but you don't have to look older, too.

When it comes to looking younger, there are all sorts of products and procedures available so you can look your best (such as anti-wrinkle gels, cosmetics, skin treatments, facelifts and day spas). One of the procedures that is the least emphasized, but can have a profound yet subtle effect, is an improved smile from a dental makeover.

Why Does Your Smile Look Older?

It's typical that most adults don't realize that their smile is not as bright as it used to be. Coffee, tea, red wine, smoking, and the normal, and sometimes heavy, wearing away of tooth enamel have cumulative effects on the teeth. As we age, our smile begins to look a little discolored.

Old dentures can become yellow or gray, which will make your smile appear older. In fact, dentures will naturally pick up stains and wear down faster than our natural teeth. If you have had the same dentures for more than six years, they require a dental makeover. New dentures should be made every six to ten years and relined every three to five years.

How Can a Dental Makeover Make My Smile Look Younger?

The fastest and easiest way an esthetically minded person can get a dental makeover is through bleaching or tooth whitening. It can be achieved either through an at-home or in-office process. Now, there are over-the-counter products that will whiten your teeth; however, for safe and predictable changes with dramatic results, there is no substitute for the dental office.

Are There Any Other Ways to Make My Smile Look Younger?

Bleaching is usually the first step to achieving a more youthful appearance to your smile. Not only can you brighten your smile through bleaching, but the physical appearance of your teeth can also be improved. Applying composite bonding, porcelain veneers or crowns to your teeth is the ultimate in dental makeover and cosmetic dentistry enhancements.

When these options were presented to one patient, she couldn't envision the immediate change the procedures would have on her smile. In front of a mirror, I showed her the gradual changes that had occurred over time due to the wearing and staining of their tooth enamel. The patient decided to have her teeth whitened and her front teeth artistically rejuvenated with porcelain veneers. When the patient went to work after the procedure was complete, her coworkers noticed a difference, but couldn't exactly identify the change in her overall appearance. They thought that she did something different to her hair or was losing weight. No one guessed that subtle improvements had been made to her teeth.

It's never too late to care more about your smile and make immediate improvements with a dental makeover. A small change today can enhance your smile for years to come.

By Benjamin O. Watkins, III, DDS

+Jim Du Molin is a leading Internet search expert helping individuals and families connect with the right dentist in their area. Visit his author page.