Looking Good at 50+...
Top flight turnout
Before
After
At the age of 57, Roz is part of a new generation of women for whom appearance has never been more important. In our youth orientated culture, ageing has been taken as a fall from grace.
But women like Roz show how the 50 plus generation is hitting back. A PA to a senior executive, she is now in the process of looking for another job, with more responsibility and more money, and she wants to look her best. As a divorcee she also wants make the most of her new appearance.
Her new look, she says, has transformed her life and personality without being immediately apparent to friends and colleagues. She explains: “people who haven’t seen me for a while are amazed about this change, but they don’t know exactly what has changed. They say: You’re looking much younger, or You’re looking incredibly well, and they’re very puzzled because they can’t work out why. This has given me a lot of confidence.”
Her dentist, Dr. Keith Cohen, of Dentexcel, in London’s Harley Street, has heard many patients tell similar stories. Roz’s treatment included two lower implants; root canal treatment of her upper teeth to retain only the root portion which helps to keep bone; and upper and lower dentures. The idea is to create a more youthful, healthy-looking smile, and to fill out and give more shape to the face. .
Roz says: “What you look like it is not only how you dress, but also what your teeth look like when you smile. When you talk to someone, they will focus upon your face – eyes and teeth. This used to be the very last thing I wanted people to do when they were talking to me.”
“The whole of my bottom jaw was in such a bad condition that I got in the habit of talking in a certain way to hide myself all the time. It was as if I was shielding myself from the world. I’m naturally an outgoing person, but I felt as if my entire personality had changed.”
“It was very hard to chew or talk without my bottom denture moving around. I became very self-conscious. Eating in company was also a problem. With certain things I couldn’t chew so I couldn’t eat. Everything was affected – including my self-confidence. And I’m sure this had a very negative effect when I went for job interviews. I just felt old and vulnerable.”
“More and more I am realizing what an impact the treatment has had. I think the way I speak is more out-going. I can eat what I want. I can smile quite openly without feeling self-conscious. It’s an incredible transformation.”
Roz can now look forward to the future in a way that used to be a pipe dream for previous generations. People who are now 45 have already lived as long as the average person born in 1900 could expect to live. Roz will probably live into her 80s – and she wants to pursue a full active life for as long as possible. Her new-found confidence to face the world could help to achieve that goal.
