I’m a Dentist and Former Miss Virginia – Sneaky Ways Your Teeth Age You
A former beauty queen warns that your smile could be making you look older — and shares her favorite dental solutions.
She explained some of the lesser-known ways your teeth can give away your age and what cosmetic procedures can help rejuvenate your smile, including a “smile makeup” trick she learned from her beauty pageant days.
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After winning the title of Miss Virginia USA in 2012, Dr. Catherine Muldoon, 38, moved on to a career in aesthetic dentistry.
Beauty pageant winners and neighborhood girls alike visit her Upper East Side office seeking solutions for their smiles.
In an interview with The US Sun, she explained why it’s important to treat your teeth as important as your skin, as it’s part of the anti-aging process.
There are several ways to make your smile look more youthful. She discussed the benefits of facial fillers, veneers and aligners.
MAKE IT WHITE
It’s no secret that yellow teeth age. And unhealthy teeth that require lots of fillings, crowns and other maintenance won’t keep your pearly whites looking youthful either.
“I tell everyone they need an electric toothbrush that is similar to a Sonicare,” she said.
It removes stains and plaque and is ‘the basis for healthy teeth’.
Once you have that sorted out, you can tackle bigger problems.
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YOUNG TEETH
Dr. Catherine explained that the shape of your teeth can also make you look older.
For a more youthful smile, she said, you need more pronounced canines and rounder edges, rather than flat ones.
“When you smile and look at your teeth, you should see that the middle teeth are the longest and they slope upward as you go further back,” she says.
On the other hand, if your lower lip curves up and your upper teeth stick out over it, it’s called a “reverse smile curve” – and is “considered an old smile.”
Some factors that age your smile have to do with the skin and bone surrounding your teeth.
As we age, she noted, our faces sag — including the length of the philtrum, the small groove between your nose and upper lip.
And if you have sleep apnea, that can also disrupt your smile.
“All the muscles and bones are on the lower jaw,” she explained.
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“Then you get a sagging face and a sagging neck if you don’t have enough support,” she says.
She suggested investing in aligners, such as those from her aligner company Catherine Cosmetics, to correct teeth positioning issues.
BENEFITS OF VENEERS + ALIGNMENT
According to Dr. Muldoon, by combining veneers with straightening aligners, you can create symmetry in your face, change the overall shape of your face, and develop overall better dental health.
While some people are concerned about veneers looking unnatural, she stressed that this is not necessary.
Many people lose weight [with aligners] because they become more aware of their eating habits and their hygiene habits
Doctor Catherine Muldoon
“In the ’90s, when veneer was popular, people wanted a sleek, smooth look,” she says.
“The real reason people think veneers look fake is because the only veneers they know about are the ones that… look fake,” she explained in a Instagram Reel.
She noted that some people choose veneers as a quick fix, but that this is not necessarily the best option.
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That’s where aligners come in.
There are more benefits to aligners than just straight teeth, such as weight loss and increased self-confidence.
“A lot of people lose weight because they become more aware of their eating habits and their hygiene,” she says.
“As you align your teeth, you see these changes happening slowly and you see yourself transforming. It’s a more holistic approach to the process because you feel better about yourself.”
SMILE MAKEUP
If you’re still thinking about veneers, Dr. Muldoon says the first step is a little “smile makeup,” a term she coined.
She starts with a healthy, cavity-free base and then applies a temporary composite to the teeth to show patients what options they have.
In one Instagram videoshe demonstrated applying it to her own tooth.
While it is a commonly used solution in the run-up to veneers, it is also a commonly used temporary solution for beauty pageant contestants and models seeking a temporary solution for events or photoshoots.
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LIP FILLER + FACINGS
Dr. Muldoon also explained how facial injections and dentistry can work together.
“I had a filling put in my upper lip that covered my teeth,” she said.
“I didn’t even know you could fix it then, so I made my teeth bigger so you can see them.”
She did this after winning Miss Virginia USA in 2012.
“I think there is a big debate about when to get lip fillers, before or after a tooth, and it depends on the patient’s overall treatment plan,” she explains.
“You want larger teeth to match because you don’t want the frame to cast a shadow over the teeth.”
A common aesthetic trend that goes hand in hand with dentistry is lip lifts or “lip flips,” which make your upper teeth more visible.
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“That’s another sign that you have a more youthful face, that your incisors are visible,” she said.
“The more incisors are visible, the more feminine and younger it is perceived to be.”
REAL RESULTS
Dr. Muldoon said she typically sees more transformations over a “slower period of time.”
In one case, a patient from the UK, who she started treating 12 years ago, had the “most complex treatment plan” with a “super small” jaw.
She described her as “grossly overweight” and said she may be missing all but one of her upper back teeth and lower back teeth.
“I thought, ‘Holy moly. Those are the only two she has there and they’re the only two she uses to bite,'” she said.
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The then 26-year-old was afraid that if she lost that one tooth, it would affect her entire mouth and “she couldn’t do anything about it.”
The woman only wanted dentures, but Catherine refused.
“I’m not going to give a woman dentures at 24. I can’t even imagine that,” she admitted.
“We’re not actually done with her treatment plan yet, but she took it very slowly because she couldn’t financially arrange it all at once.”
“I developed a treatment plan for her based on that, which ultimately involved two or three operations on her nose: braces, an implant in her upper palate and finally she got implants.”
Ultimately, the woman has lost more than 100 pounds since they started working together, which Dr. Muldoon believes is due to undiagnosed sleep apnea.
“It was resolved by moving her upper jaw forward, opening her airway and allowing her to breathe,” she explains.
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