The Aged Face: the Facial Manifestations of Aging 
Koury ME., The International Journal of Adult Orthodontics and Orthognatic Surgery 6(2)81-95, 1991

Review: Wasserstein A., Israel

www.lingualnews.com Vol 1 No 2, March 2003

Modern society values beauty and youth. Awareness of this has created a demand for methods to dampen the natural aging process which address the undesirable changes our bodies, and particularly our faces, undergo.

I would like to review and recommend an interesting article for clinicians treating adult patients as well as lay people. This article was published 12 years ago. However, the aging process has remained unchanged during the interval. It is very important that the orthodontic treatment plan should consider the aging process, in a way that the orthodontic treatment will camouflage some of the aging manifestations, or at least will not accelerate then.

The authors define the term "aged face" as "any facial manifestations that are perceived as indices of advanced age beyond an individual's chronologic or desired age". They go on to describe the facial features, that account for the aged face, on the basis of anatomic units: forehead, periorbital area, cheeks, nose, lips and perioral tissues, mandibular line, chin and neck.
The authors, who are oral and maxillofacial surgeons, state that the aging process may take place at a different rates in different areas. As such, they give the surgical corrections that improve these features.

For example, a modified Le Fort III procedure for improving the posture of the lower eyelid area with its drooping tissue or for correcting facial hypoplasia or retrusion, cheek augmentation, rhinoplasty, collagen injection in the perioral tissue, chin augmentation, cervicofacial lipectomy etc. These descriptions are accompanied by pictures that demonstrate the aging manifestations in the face and neck and some results of surgical corrections. 

It is reasonable to assume that new surgical techniques have been developed since this paper was published. It is worthwhile to follow advancements in this field

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Adult and Lingual Orthodontics
EDITORS:
Dr. Silvia Geron D.M.D., M.Sc
Dr. Rafi Romano D.M.D., M.Sc
Dr. Pablo Echarri D.M.D., M.Sc