Remember to Take out Your Dentures Every Night

There's something to be said for showing your age; as many Internet memes have pointed out, if you've got wrinkles, it means you've been lucky enough to live long enough to have them. However, that doesn't mean you have to put up with all the signs of aging. Sometimes a very small change in your face can make you look years older or much more tired than you really are. Your teeth are among the main culprits here, and if you address a few issues, you can give yourself a more youthful, healthy look.

Craze Lines and Worn Spots

As you get older and spend more time eating, your teeth can show signs of your ability to chew. Craze lines -- partial cracks that don't breach the enamel -- and worn spots are a couple of effects of eating over the years, and they can make you look less healthy and young. Getting dental bonding or veneers can help restore these teeth as well as strengthen them a bit.

Missing Teeth and Sunken Cheeks

If you've had to get teeth removed and never got implants in their place, that can affect the skin on your face. For example, if you're missing a couple of molars on one side, your cheek won't have as much material to rest against. That can make your cheek look sunken, which is a classic stereotypical sign of age. Getting implants, or at least dentures, provides a backdrop against which your cheek can rest, giving the cheek a plumper appearance. Worn molars can also cause a sunken look to some extent, so getting veneers or caps on worn molars might help a bit. However, always check with a dentist about the best way to approach that.

Yellowish Color and Stains Galore

Bright white teeth are the current standard of youth and beauty, so yellowish teeth -- once thought to be a sign of health, too -- can make you look older, or like a longtime smoker. Stains can make your teeth look bad, too. Try whitening your teeth a few shades to see if that makes you look less old. Whitening can be done in stages, so if you lighten up by a few shades and decide your teeth are still too yellow, you can go back later and have more whitening done.

Find a dentist who specializes in cosmetic dentistry with an emphasis on anti-aging. He or she will have several options for changing your teeth in ways that take a few years off your looks. For more information about cosmetic dentistry, contact a dentist such as Dr. Mahnaz Rashti.