You don’t really wake up one morning suddenly older, but it can feel that way. Suddenly you notice that people are treating you as older than you are. They could be offering you senior discounts all of a sudden. They might guess an older age, or potentially even let slip phrases like, “back in your day.” They might assume you don’t understand new trends or technologies.
Why is it that people think you are older? It might very well be your smile. Here are five ways that your smile could be making you look older.
Discolored Teeth
As we get older, our teeth naturally become stained because of food and beverages. So it’s natural that people should use the color of your teeth to gauge your age. But if your teeth are more discolored because of your coffee or red wine habit, people can guess that you are much older than you are.
One of the easiest things to rejuvenate your smile is teeth whitening. However, whitening doesn’t always work, so we may recommend porcelain veneers, especially if you have worn teeth.
Worn Teeth
As with stains, it’s natural that our teeth wear down as we get older. Even with a more refined diet than in the past, the action of chewing can wear your teeth down. Teeth start out long, and your central incisors are typically longer than the other teeth. But wear makes all your teeth shorter, and gives them a more uniform height.
Although wear occurs naturally with age, some people experience accelerated wear because of tooth grinding or a bite condition like TMJ. If your worn teeth are making you look older, we can build them up using porcelain veneers or dental crowns.
Missing Teeth
But perhaps nothing will age your smile as much as missing teeth. Tooth loss increases with age, with many people starting to lose teeth in middle age. These days, most younger adults haven’t lost any teeth. It’s only as we get older that more people have lost teeth than haven’t, and if you have visible missing teeth, people assume you’re significantly older.
And with fewer older people even losing teeth, your missing tooth likely says more about you than that: it may make people think you aren’t taking care of yourself or can’t afford dental care.
Replacing a missing tooth with a dental implant or bridge will help restore your youthful, healthy appearance.
Outdated Restorations
In some cases, even repair of your teeth can make you look older. One of the most obvious associations that will make you look older is your metal amalgam fillings. These fillings not only stand out in your teeth, they mark you as being older. These days, metal amalgam fillings are being phased out in favor of more biocompatible and cosmetic materials.
But partial dentures are also a restoration that will mark you as older. With the invention of dental implants, most people favor that tooth replacement option, or potentially dental bridges.
If your restorations are making you look older, we can replace them. Metal amalgam fillings can be replaced with tooth colored fillings and a partial denture with a dental implant or bridge.
Rejuvenate Your Appearance
You don’t have to accept that your smile will make you look older. We can help rejuvenate your smile, and help you look years younger.
To learn how cosmetic dentistry can help restore your youth, please call (201) 343-4044 today for an appointment with a cosmetic dentist at the River Edge Dental Center for General & Cosmetic Dentistry.
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