How to avoid denture face?

How may dentures change your face?

Picture by Authority Dental under CC 2.0 license

The reason dentures often change the shape of your face is that, after teeth are extracted, the bone remodels and resorbs. This happens in every case, unless you place dental implants to prevent the bone resorption. Everyone experiences the change at different paces, so you may not notice a change until you have had dentures for a few years.

Let us look at three things you will eventually start to notice.

Sagging chin

A sagging chin, also called a witch's chin, has a droopy appearance. It causes jawbone resorption due to the wearing of traditional dentures. Along with bone resorption, the muscle attachments also change, resulting in a less bulky chin and greater sagging.

Monkey mouth

If your dentures are too big, you will notice that your lips and cheeks will protrude and give your face a monkey-like appearance. It is normal for dentures to feel big at first, but they should not look big. Similar to when you receive a local anesthetic, your face feels bigger, but it is not.

The dentures might also look big because they are not correctly aligned, and the bite is not the way it should be. If you have to shift your jaw to get your denture teeth to come together, it will make the denture look larger.

Sunken lips and cheeks

Like the sagging chin, your lips and cheeks can also develop this problem. Once the muscles and tissues begin to sag, the lips and cheeks will appear sunken.

Patients experiencing this will have a hollow facial structure. In moderate to severe cases, the lips may no longer close appropriately, leading to cheilitis as saliva pools in the corners of the mouth.

How to improve your appearance with dentures?

Picture by Authority Dental under CC 2.0 license

Now that you know why your face shape might change, let us talk about how you can prevent or fix the problem. You may need to use multiple techniques to get the result you want.

Use soft liners

The biggest problem with dentures is that they do not fully replace the level of bone you had before. Essentially, you have a smaller face once you get dentures.

To help alleviate that, you can place soft liners in your dentures to restore some of the height. You can either place over-the-counter strips in your denture, which also serve as denture adhesives, or ask your dentist to place a soft liner.

The soft liner should last for several months and is a better solution. It will likely not restore all the bone height, but it will help.

Visit specialist for adjustments

If your denture is too big, it may need to be adjusted. Your dentist can remove some of the acrylic to make the denture smaller and feel less bulky. If the denture is not aligning correctly with the opposing arch, they will need to adjust the bite.

Consider other denture type

Cheaper appliances may also cause an ill-fitting denture. Economy dentures are more affordable, but do not give the natural appearance that quality dentures would. They will be more noticeable and less comfortable than more expensive options.

Even the best dental labs may not be able to modify your dentures or adjust them to fit your face better. For that reason, you may also want to consider implant-supported dentures. Using dental implants will allow you to have a smaller denture, which can solve many problems. Plus, the implants will help retain bone, reducing bone loss over time.