Dentures That Create A Non Surgical Facelift

Dentures that give non surgical facelifts entail making a denture that replaces the tissue that has been lost over the years and returning the patient to his or her natural youthful look.  The bone that holds the teeth in, the alveolar bone, is only there because the teeth are there.  When teeth are removed, the alveolar bone begins to resorb immediately.

While the lower jaw resorbs downward, the upper jaw resorbs up and backwards.  This resorption effectively caused the denture to move upwards and backwards. This movement of the denture causes the deep furrows in the face we call the naso-labial fold. 

People who do not wear dentures, and some who do, often have filler injected like Restylane or Juvederm. But a longer lasting way to fill this area out is to make the flange area in the upper denture fuller.  Sometimes these areas are over filled and we call them “plumpers”.   I have provided this treatment for many years.

Another cause of facial collapse is an increase in the distance the teeth are apart due to the resorption of supporting structures. We call this vertical dimension of occlusion or VDO. By increasing the VDO, closing the gap between the upper and lower teeth, it makes the face appear slightly longer, reducing the sagging appearance of the skin. Of course dental parameters of how people bite, occlusion, must be considered.

Non-surgical dentures that give the illusion of a facelift are part of the usual armamentarium of an esthetically tuned dentist, and is a proven and effective technique.  Contact us to see if this treatment is right for you.

– John C. Stone, DDS, Cosmetic Dentist, Ft. Lauderdale