Facial Aging

   The reasons for facial aging:

 

• Loss of muscle tone
• Thinning of skin – this is due to loss of subcutaneous fat and collagen.
• Increased water loss from the skin and a decrease of the sebaceous glands, which provides natural moisture to the skin.
• Sun exposure.
• The skin’s capillaries and small blood vessels pull away from the skin, reducing blood flow. The more superficial vessels can thicken from sun exposure, reducing their capacity to nourish the skin.
• Facial muscles acting on the skin creating dynamic lines. The most obvious dynamic lines are in the upper face like glabellar lines (frown line in between the eyes) and Crow’s feet (laugh lines around the eyes).
• Dental problems. Loss of tooth structure (shortened teeth) decreases the vertical height of the lower third of the face, discoloured teeth and heavily filled teeth(due to normal aging) cause an aged appearance. Dental rejuvenation can be done in a single day using a state of the art Cadcam system called CEREC® (porcelain crowns are manufactured  while you wait) .  For more information click on gallery or go to

 

 

   Non-invasive treatment to camouflage aging:

 

• Botulinum toxin A is used to soften over-active facial muscles causing dynamic lines (mostly upper face) thus smoothing the skin.
• Dermal fillers are used to replace volume to areas where tissue loss has occurred(cheeks, lips and nasolabial folds)
• Chemical peels are used to stimulate growth of new skin cells to enable skin resurfacing.
• Skin needling (Dermapen) - replacement of volume in the skin as well as increasing skin tightness.  Minor skin blemishes are addressed during the same treatment.

 

   Static versus dynamic lines:

 

• Static lines are “creases” in the skin that are present without muscle tension i.e. frowning.

• Dynamic lines are “creases” in the skin only brought on by muscle tension.

www.smiledoc.co.za

nautilusdental@mweb.co.za

012 347 2244