Dental facelifts 'counter ageing'

Demand for the treatment is expected to be high

A non-surgical face-lift which works by altering the height of teeth has been given top marks by an independent panel.

The dental face-lift is said to herald "a new phase in cosmetic medicine" by countering the ageing process without the need for extensive surgery.

A survey among the independent panel, which assessed patients with the dental facelift, revealed they thought 80% of the patients looked between five and 20 years younger.

Improvements

And just under 80% of the patients themselves reported positive results after the treatment.

The panel of five, including one patient who had had the dental facelift, assessed the results of the treatment on 96 patients aged between 26 and 69.

The patients themselves noticed improvements in a whole range of facial features - not just in the lower face.

Areas included eyes, nose, cheeks, lips and skin.

Most notably there was a reduction in the patients' eyes - a quarter reported a reduction in the loose skin above the upper eyelid.

Extra bonus

The same proportion also found less fatty deposits underneath the lower eyelid, giving them brighter bigger and younger-looking eyes.

But in virtually every case, the patient did not feel the change in their appearance was as great as that reported by the panel.

The dental facelift involves increasing the height between a patients' teeth, which results in more pleasant proportions to the face.

The technique is carried out with a plastic pivot in the mouth initially which can be modified.

It would be asked should we be doing this sort of treatment just to alter appearance?

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive BDHF

The pivot is taken out two to six months later and the height increased permanently, using crowns or onlays.

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said the procedure has been carried out in the UK as a treatment for people suffering from migraines, neck and back aches.

He said: "As an extra bonus patients found they got anti-ageing side-effects."

'Controversial'

He said the panel and patients' feedback was impressive.

The fact that patients felt the overall results were less impressive than the panel believed was not surprising.

"It's usually other people who really notice the difference in our appearance," he said.

"I'm not surprised as it ties in with the sort of results we are seeing in practice as a side effect," he said.

The fact that the procedure has now been recognised by an independent panel is very welcome news

Dr Nick Mohindra
report author

"But it would be considered controversial as it would be asked should we be doing this sort of treatment just to alter appearance?"

He said he would expect the report, which is included in Saturday's edition of the British Dental Journal, would spark an interest among patients.

He said: "It will probably create a demand - especially as it is a non-surgical treatment - but there is not enough information in the report to tell dentists how to do it, so it's not as if people will be able to go straight there to have the treatment carried out."

Dr Nick Mohindra, the report's author who is a practising dentist in Wimpole Street, London, said he believed the treatment could be available to a larger number of patients in the future.

He said: "The dental face-lift represents an exciting development in the field of cosmetic medicine.

"The fact that the procedure has now been recognised by an independent panel is very welcome news."

The research is published in the British Dental Journal.