Worried about dentures during and after facelift surgery. Any suggestions?

There should not be any issues continuing to wear dentures during and following surgery. As most of our facelift procedures are performed under local anesthesia, it is safe to leave your dentures in place. While you will experience some tightness of your jaw following surgery this should not create a problem with wearing dentures.

There is no need to worry about your dentures following a
facelift. They will most likely be removed during surgery, but they can be
replaced immediately afterwards. No one but your surgeon and his team has to
see you without them.

Thank you for your question. You are asking about wearing dentures during and after facelift surgery, and how they will affect surgery and results. You add that your significant other has not seen you without dentures, and that they do look natural.I can certainly help you with this as a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon, and fellowship trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing in Manhattan Long Island for over 20 years. Facelift surgery is a very significant part of my practice, and I have performed it on patients with dentures.First, to answer your question, facelifts performed while wearing dentures should not be an issue. This is with the understanding that you’re not having any type of chin implant, which also shouldn’t be an issue e because of the way dentures are fit. However, using dentures during surgery may be an issue with surgeons who perform facelifts with general anesthesia. When I first trained in facial cosmetic surgery, most facelifts were done under general anesthesia. If a person is under general anesthesia, they have a tube in their mouth, In these cases, patients had to remove their dentures, bridges or anything that could potentially dislodge and impact the airway or breathing.Not using dentures or having a tube in the mouth during facial surgery distorts structural aspects of the person’s face. I always thought – are we doing the best job we can on a patient who has all this distortion from the tube, and absence of teeth in critical locations? In my practice, we do everything under local anesthesia with LITE® intravenous sedation. = LITE® intravenous sedation is truly light - it’s light enough that a person can easily woken up. Once the area is numb, we can do this procedure very comfortably. I can get the patient’s cooperation to mold and shape the skin in a way I want to. I allow my patients to wear dentures during the procedure, and prefer they do to get the best results possible. The decision to have dentures worn during a procedure is on a case-by-case basis. If there are any potential risks that could be an issue we discuss it prior to surgery. I feel that the local anesthesia with very light sedation is ideal to ensure the look with the dentures is optimized. My personal preference is to do it with the dentures in place so it’s as close to your normal life as possible. Using local anesthesia is a big reason why our patients do very well, heal faster, look natural, and I can get the most ideal result because their faces aren’t paralyzed by the general anesthesia, or are distorted from tubes and other things needed when a person is on a respirator.I think you should meet with doctors, learn about how they do their procedure to factor into your decision-making process, and see what you’re comfortable with. I hope that was helpful. I wish you the best of luck. Thank you for your question.