Once you reach mid- life, trying to slow the ravages of time can be exhausting — not to mention expensive.
Like many women in their 50s, a super-healthy diet, daily exercise, yoga and brain-training jostle for prominence on my to-do list, alongside an ever-increasing array of once indulgent, but now essential, face and body treatments.
But what I hadn’t given anywhere near as much thought to were my teeth. Despite diligently brushing twice a day, flossing and having regular dental check-ups, they were increasingly stubby and discoloured — turning a yellowish-grey with ugly brown marks along the gums.
It made me paranoid that my breath whiffed of decay. More to the point, every time I opened my mouth, I felt my appearance gained a decade or so.
Louise Atkinson was stunned when, at the age of 54, she visited a dentist, had her teeth and gums examined and was told that her mouth more resembled that of a 64-year-old. Louise after her teeth were fixed
When my NHS dentist ran out of suggestions, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and brave the clinic of a private dental ‘smile specialist’.
I wasn’t after a full set of Cheryl Cole-style blindingly white veneers — I wanted to see if an ordinary person like me could do anything to bring their teeth back in line with the rest of their face and body, without having to remortgage to fund it.
So I took my question to Dr Uchenna Okoye, an aesthetic dentist and director of the London Smiling Dental Group.
Although she does transformational work on TV, she also specialises in dental ‘tweakments’, such as white fillings, whitening and ‘bonding’ — using resin to patch problem areas — which purport to offer a less extreme (and less expensive) solution to the full dental makeover.
The news from her dentist’s chair was not good. After much prodding and scraping, she sighed: ‘Yes, your mouth is definitely ageing faster than the rest of you.’ When pushed for an exact age, she revealed my worn-down, rough-edged teeth, plus discolouration, meant my mouth resembled that of a 64-year-old.
The dentist explained to her that she was guilty of over-zealous, but unfocused, brushing and flossing, which had resulted in inflamed gums now harbouring pockets of corrosive bacteria. Louise before she had her teeth fixed
Aged 54, in great health and fanatical about flossing, how had I ended up with the teeth of a woman ten years older?
Dr Okoye explained I was guilty of over-zealous, but unfocused, brushing and flossing, which had resulted in inflamed gums now harbouring pockets of corrosive bacteria. I also had a shockingly high plaque build-up of 46 per cent (a well-tended mouth has below 10 per cent) and (yikes!) active gum disease, which meant I was in real danger of losing my teeth as they rotted away from the roots.
I had seen enough reports indicating that gum disease can raise your risk of heart problems, cancer and dementia to know that this was a very bad thing.
The damage had been exacerbated, said Dr Okoye, by my persistent night-time teeth grinding, or ‘bruxism’. Although I’d been fitted with protective gum shields over the years, I’d rarely worn them.
Despite diligently brushing twice a day, flossing and having regular dental check-ups, they were increasingly stubby and discoloured — turning a yellowish-grey with ugly brown marks along the gums. The teeth before the procedure
It’s the grinding that has loosened my teeth, increasing inflammation and worsening the gum disease.
A woman of my age should have upper front teeth around 11mm long (from gum to tip), but Dr Okoye told me I’d managed to grind mine to a stubby 8.5mm.
The chipped, uneven edges also reflected a lifetime of nail-biting and using my teeth as cutting tools for sticky tape and thread.
And, while I don’t have a sugary diet, I’d inadvertently encouraged the dental ageing process by chewing sugar-free gum all day.
Dr Okoye explained that a short burst of gum-chewing can be good for teeth, activating cleansing saliva, but persistent chewing (in my case, one or two packs a day) had strengthened my jaw muscles — much like weight-lifting repetitions — giving me a fierce clench that was leaving my teeth with tiny cracks and fissures.
Not only were these letting in bacteria to destroy the delicate structures of my teeth, but they explained why hot and cold foods were causing me so much pain.
Dr Okoye also said my enamel — the hard, protective covering on teeth — had been worn thin by abrasive acidic food and drink: in my case, lots of fruit, salad dressings, diet cola, white wine and Prosecco. Red wine might stain your teeth, but the bubbles in fizz contain phosphoric, malic, citric and tartaric acids that can literally melt your enamel.
Eradicating gum disease, replacing chipped, discoloured old crowns, updating her crumbling fillings with white bonding (like strong nail polish for the teeth), whitening and fitting a mouth guard — cost an estimated £8,000
The good news? Dr Okoye said she was confident she could take my smile back to that of a 40-year-old. But her plan — eradicating gum disease, replacing chipped, discoloured old crowns, updating my crumbling fillings with white bonding (like strong nail polish for the teeth), whitening and fitting a mouth guard — would cost an estimated £8,000.
Could I justify squandering the price of a luxury family holiday or two on my mouth?
It’s a lot of money to look younger, but the deciding factor was the prospect of being able to chew my way through a good entrecote in my 90s — something already proving difficult.
Lorraine Whittington, 58, a university administrator from Loughborough, Leicestershire, is another whose dental problems started after the age of 50, when an abscess resulted in tooth removal. She says: ‘My gums started to recede so badly, you could see the roots. My NHS dentist told me there was nothing they could do — and I was really frightened I’d lose more teeth.’
She went to Dr Kiren Johal at the Dental Suite, Nottingham, and discovered ‘tweakments’ on offer that could slow the ageing process in her mouth and extend the useful life of her teeth.
Lousie said she realised it is a lot of money to look younger, but the deciding factor was the prospect of being able to chew her way through a good entrecote in my 90s — something that was already proving difficult for her
Over a year, she spent £3,000 on hygienist sessions, white fillings (both in place of crumbling grey fillings and to patch and protect areas of exposed root at the base of her front teeth) and having everything whitened. A dark mark on one front tooth was removed and covered with composite bonding (white resin).
Her dentist told Lorraine the process had taken 20 years off her teeth — and she’s thrilled with the results. ‘The sensitivity that used to blight my life has gone and my gums are no longer red and inflamed,’ she says. ‘I never used to open my mouth when I smiled — now I’m grinning all the time.’
Four years ago, Viv Whitehead, now 64, was horrified to be told by an NHS dentist that her gum disease was so bad, she needed seven teeth removing. ‘I leapt out of the chair and ran out sobbing,’ she says. ‘I was 60 — far too young to be talking about dentures.’
Viv’s brother advised her to get a second opinion from his dentist, Dr Kalpesh Bohara in Leicester.
Discoloured teeth and fillings, chipped edges, old crowns and gum recession — she had it all. But, significantly, he said only one tooth had to go.
‘It wasn’t cheap (crowns and veneers cost £600 to £800 each), but it has made a world of difference,’ says Viv. ‘I used to look much older than my years, but now people say I look younger!’
Another shocked victim was Viv Whitehead, now 64, who was horrified to be told by an NHS dentist that her gum disease was so bad, she needed seven teeth removing. Pictured before getting her teeth fixed
As for me, by my second hygienist appointment, my plaque score was down to 14 per cent and the gum disease was under control.
Over the next eight months, Dr Okoye spruced up five crumbling fillings (replacing them with sparkly white ones at around £200 each) and filled in the stained patches of decay at the base of my front teeth with white resin.
The same white resin was also used in layers to lengthen my prematurely shortened incisors. This turned the chipped ends into the beautifully elongated, rounded teeth of a much younger woman.
Dr Okoye explained that not only does this ‘bonding’ process make teeth look younger, it also offers protection against further chipping and decay.
I am likely to need regular touch-ups as the resin chips away — but chipped resin is better than chipped enamel.
I was hesitant about forking out £500 for the whitening Dr Okoye recommended, but she said it is a protective measure, rather than purely cosmetic. ‘The process releases oxygen, which oxygenates your mouth, making it hostile for bacteria,’ she explained.
In all, my smile rejuvenation programme was long-winded and not always comfortable. Whitening can trigger sensitivity, although that should stop when the course is finished. Meanwhile, I still wear a bite guard at night to protect my front teeth from grinding and will have to do so indefinitely.
But when I look at my ‘before’ photos, I can’t believe the transformation. It’s subtle: no one can put their finger on what I have had done. Just as Dr Okoye promised, I have the teeth of a much younger woman — and it’s great to know I’ve halted the ageing process in my mouth.