Older couple smiling

High School Reunions

These put instant anxiety into your head when you open the envelope or email.  Some start a crash diet and/or exercise program to improve their mid-section.  They shop for appropriate apparel to flatter or enhance their curves.  Some purchase or rent new diamonds. They have make-up counseling and makeovers, after weeks of anti-aging cream use. Both men and women opt for transplants for thinning, or hair dye to hide the grey. I’ve been told that some wear a wig or hairpiece. But there is one thing that most forget…their teeth.

I wish that I could explain the phenomenon that I see in our dental practice. By the time one attends their Thirty-Year Reunion, their facial skin has sagged around their mouth, so their teeth look shorter.  Often, they are also darker. The ones on the lower jaw, in front, are often crooked or old fillings are coffee stained but people don’t realize that these teeth “show” when they talk. While this is reality, indeed, it doesn’t mean that it is permanent.  We make realistic porcelain crowns or use veneers, often a wee bit longer, to counter the aging process!

My experience is that people smile more naturally, and more often, when they improve their front teeth. Most come in for their next dental hygiene appointment and tell me about interactions with friends who ask, “what are you doing differently?”  I have the best job in the whole world!

Contact Winterset Dental as soon as you receive the Reunion notice.

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