First Impressions count. Whether you are going for a job interview or meeting someone for the first time, you will be judged on how you look in these first few seconds of meeting. You may be self-conscious or feel at a disadvantage because of certain aspects of your appearance, but we all have one powerful weapon at our disposal to make a favourable first impression….and that is our smile.
The power of the smile is well documented. We know that an attractive, friendly smile has a huge impact on how we are perceived. A warm, genuine smile suggests that the wearer is someone who wants to help, someone who is kind, approachable, someone we would like to get to know better. A smile can create chemistry…make the old seem youthful!
Unfortunately, the ageing process also affects our smile. People often say that they have started to look sad or even grumpy but they don’t feel it inside! This is because the smile changes over the years. Dentists regard the smile as the teeth and gums and the treatments they offer to improve the smile reflect this, but the smile is more than just teeth and gums….we smile with our whole face!
Let’s look at how the ageing process affects the smile. Teeth become more crooked, darken and become worn down. The sagging of the soft tissues means that tooth display changes when we are talking and smiling. We start to show more of our lower teeth and less of our top teeth. The corners of the mouth do not lift up as much as when we were younger. This means our smiles are not as wide as they used to be. Lips also become thinner. We know dentists can whiten teeth, and place veneers to widen our smile and straighten teeth.
However, before we embark on these procedures, let’s see what we can do with the soft tissues. Oralift ,by using the muscles of the face can reverse some of these changes…muscle hypertrophy can make the lips fuller and the reversal of the ageing triangle means that the corners of the mouth lift up more and the tooth display can be reversed. Because Oralift affects the whole face, the eyes can also look wider and brighter. Once these soft tissues have been addressed with Oralift, only then should we decide if the other procedures are still needed.
We do not all want to look 20 years old… we want to look the best for our age!