Facial Orthopedics: Dental Face Lift - California Reconstructive Dentistry

Face Lift Dentistry in 99% of the patients, does not require jaw surgery, facial surgery, stitches, or painful dental care. It is surprisingly non invasive and the treatment centers on tooth structure to support the face.

Cosmetic Implant Dentistry Dr. Muslin

Facial orthopedics generally refers to the range of procedures and treatments that improve functional conditions, promote favorable jaw relationships, guide the overall development of tooth structures and strive for the best tooth alignment possible.

Dentists and orthodontists routinely use facial orthopedic concepts almost routinely with major dental care a patient may need for acquiring straighter teeth, overcoming an overbite or underbite, influencing the positions of certain teeth and, lastly, for acquiring dentures or fixed bridges.

Standard Diagnostics - Expanded Focus

The collapsed bite or smile has an effect on almost any age group but is especially prevalent in the 5o years and older group. Dr. Muslin uses standard and advanced technologies and incorporates them with the echnical data they generate, into an overall study of the physical relationships and properties of different facial elements.

FaceLift Dentistry Dr. Muslin

Computer images and video clips of all facial views, both close up and full face, help Dr. Muslin see and assess the three dimensional needs of the patient.

Articulators and FaceLift Dentistry

Articulators are routinely used in our office for all face lift dentistry treatment plans. Pictured here, they represent a patient's existing bite (at the time original impressions are made) and will readily indicate misalignments, bad occlusion (or the absence of it), along with all of the needs associated with missing, damaged, severely worn or missing teeth.

Face Lifts California

The articulator plays a key role in face lift dentistry as is simulates the patient's jaw positions and jaw movement. Once mounted, a patient's models are never removed (most practices mount and dismount the patient's model so the articulator can be used with other patients.

Our inventory of articulators enables Dr. Muslin to "assign" an articulator to each patient, thereby eliminating some of the most common errors made in upper and lower occlusion reconstruction.

While it is common for dental practices to send impressions to a dental lab for fabricating needed components (porcelain crowns, veneers, fixed bridges, dentures, etc), our Ceramist receives the patient's own articulator with impressions already mounted.

The seemingly normal process of mounting and dismounting impressions inevitably increases the potential for error. Errors in measurement, errors in fabrication (at the lab) and errors in diagnostic waxup activities. For Dr. Muslin's Dental Face Lift, these errors are eliminated.

Tomography Diagnosis California CA

Jawbone Relationships - Resting and In Motion

The articulator device provides the diagnostic and technical data for studying and normalizing bite height, creating normal occlusion and assuring the healthiest overall alignment of all tooth structures.

Tomography studies focus on a patient's jaw bone relationships as the jaws are clenched tightly, relaxed and opened wide. A specialized device, pictured here, provides Dr. Muslin with additional technical and diagnostic data to assure normal movements and optimal TMJ - TMD relationships that are necessary for regaining normal jaw operation.

Individualized FaceLift Analysis

From the age of 9 or so... to about 50, our teeth slowly wear down from the occlusal (biting) forces as a normal process. This does not take into account events that can significantly accelerate this facial aging process which could include: trauma, extractions, poor oral health care, periodontal disease, delayed routine dental care, bad crowns, failed veneers, clencing, grinding, emotional stress and other pre-existing conditions that were not treated earlier during developmental years.

As our teeth lose height (or length) our smiles and resting positions of the closed jaw slowly, at an unnoticeable pace, collapse. Left untreated, we will acquire the appearance that many people associate with being grandparents. A collapsed face may be acceptable at an older age... but certainly not acceptable at a younger age of 50, or earlier.

The proprietary use of the diagnostic and treatment devices outlined above (articulators, computers and tomography devices), as used by Dr. Muslin (compared to standard usage), provides the technical data for re-establishing most or all of the physical properties and elements that are characteristic of a younger face and smile .....that will change the appearance of a patient's face that has otherwise collapsed.

Many popular plastic surgery services and treatments including collagen injections, Botox® and Restalyn® may not be the best treatment for a symptom caused by issues directly related to facial collapse, thin lips, facial wrinkles and other aging facial structures.

Upper and lower (maxillary and mandibular) jaw structures, positioning relationships, Tooth length, tooth shape and tooth angles provide the foundation of our overall facial appearance.

The Dental Face Lift revitalizes the aging face by supporting the facial tissue with normalized tooth structures that recreate a patient's vertical dimension (increased height lengthens the face, decreasing appearance of facial wrinkling), reconstructs the patient's bite (often repositions jawbone relationships) that promotes maximum comfort, health and youthful appearance.

The content of this website addresses some very common examples of aging bites and faces and some rather unique causes. The dynamics differ from patient to patient... but the end result is the same. A premature state of an aged apppearance that eventually undergoes a physical change in face length and shape that creates a more youthful look.

If you suspect a collapsing bite or a smile that seems to be too old, or not proportionate to your overall facial structure, you may be a candidate for a Dental Face Lift. Contact our office at (310) 829-6796 to schedule a consultation to learn more.

You can also send questions directly to Dr. Muslin via our on-line Ask The Dentist form. Dr. Muslin will respond to you directly.

California Reconstructive Dental Face Lifts
Sam Muslin, D.D.S., M.A.G.D.
1908 Santa Monica Blvd
California CA 90404
(310) 829-6796