Blurring the Lines

Created on 12th January 2009

More and more dentists are moving into the field of facial aesthetics. Dr Uchenna Okoye, Clinical Director of London Smiling Dental Group and expert on 10 Years Younger, explains why dentists have the necessary training and experience

“Dentists are the best at injections because we spend all our time trying to minimise pain to our patients. Everyone hates us otherwise,” says Dr Uchenna Okoye, giving just one of the reasons why dentists are becoming leaders in the fields of facial aesthetics.

Get the smile right first
Dr Okoye firmly believes that the smile makeover is the first and often most important step in turning back the years. It can totally transform a patient’s appearance just in itself and also it can affect what surgical or non-surgical treatments are to follow.

“This is something that is huge in the US,” she explains. “Anyone who is about to have a facelift in America goes to see their dentist first. This is something we are only just catching onto over here. I think it is important to see a dentist first because I believe that I can take ten to fifteen years off someone just by working on their smile.”

The facts back this up: it has been scientifically proven that the most youthful part of your face is the lower third. Also it is the white parts of your ace, as such, that make you look younger. This works for your eyes – by opening them up through eye surgery it can instantly refresh and revitalise our appearance – and also for your teeth. You obviously have more teeth on show in your face which is why changing the appearance of your smile can ave such a huge impact.

Dr Okoye takes this further: “When whitening someone’s teeth, I pick the shade to match the colour of their eye whites which don’t tend to change over the course of their life. I always know that will work really well with their face as you don’t want their teeth to look out of place – not too white.

“Often patients will come to me that have had Botox and fillers but they are still not happy with their appearance,” Dr Okoye says. “They can’t pinpoint what is making them unhappy so they keep having more and more but it isn’t achieving the effect they want because they haven’t addressed their smile.”

As well as stripping back the years, a smile makeover can also affect the amount of cosmetic surgery and nonsurgical treatments that you will need afterwards. Dr Okoye calls this the collagen lip effect; because the teeth support the lips and the lower third of the face, by building the teeth out it often results in much fuller lips and can also reduce the amount of fine lines around the mouth. It can also affect the jaw-line and the smile lines, the lines that run from their mouth to their chin.

“Some people come to me with the attitude that they have spent all this money and they want people to know it but that is very rare. The trend in the UK is to look like yourself but just better, a bit younger, a bit fresher,” Dr Okoye explains. “I can achieve this natural effect because, post-smile makeover, the aesthetic enhancement needed is much subtler – you need much less filler, less collagen, even much less cutting in invasive surgery.”

Doctors versus dentists
Dr Okoye has very strong opinions on the role that cosmetic dentists can take n facial sculpting. “So many cosmetic doctors use the term facial aesthetics but dentists are the ones who really do that. I spent years learning about the facial muscles, focusing fully on the face, whereas a doctor’s or surgeon’s training is much more general before they specialise.

“All the injections and blocks that doctors have to give – it is the dentists that teach them how to do that.

“I do the dentistry first but I always know what the end result will be and what that person may need when the dentistry is completed. I will then know exactly what products to use and where and how much.”

Predicting the future
Dr Okoye believes that dentists could begin to dominate the field of facial aesthetics. “There are lots of fantastic doctors doing this sort of non-invasive surgery and if anything dentists have come to it too late because we are such a conservative bunch of people on the whole.”

Looking towards the future, she feels that dentists should not stray from their field of expertise and that body reshaping products such as Macrolane should be left to cosmetic doctors and surgeons. “I personally feel that dentists should have nothing to do with it but should continue to offer what is covered by their training and experience.

“I predict that dentistry will become a crucial part of the battle against ageing. Anyone thinking about trying to look younger, they might change their hair colour, may decide to have Botox or fillers, and having your teeth done will become an essential part of that.

“This change in perception is already starting to occur. I had a client recently who was to have veneers and crowns and she was totally terrified but he had just come from having a Brazilian wax. I told her that here was nothing I could do that would hurt as much as that. She has her Brazilian every month and maintaining her teeth will now become part of her regular treatments.”

Another section of her clients that love the crossover between cosmetic dentistry and cosmetic surgery are men. “I have so many guys who love coming o see me, who like having everything done from manicures to fillers at the same time as their teeth treatments. One said it was because it looks OK on is credit card statement but he would be embarrassed if it as obvious he was going for beauty treatments. Also men like t because they can view it as healthcare and not vanity.”