Smile with Confidence: A Comprehensive Guide to Dental Health and Care

Tag: teeth and aging

How Do Teeth Age?

Teeth are not quite as unique as snowflakes, however, they do vary in size, shape and location in the jaw.  These differences in the teeth are what give our face shape and form and how we chew, speak or smile.  Did you know that we are born with 20 baby teeth (a/k/a “primary teeth”) that will begin to “erupt” or break through at about 6 months, and, by age 12, all 32 of our permanent teeth have usually erupted?

A Child’s Smile

There are many gap-toothed photos of you in your parents’ family albums.  Face it, all of a sudden your “cuteness quotient” goes down substantially when you begin losing those baby teeth.  The first teeth to go are the lower center teeth (a/k/a the lower center incisors) at approximately 6 to 7 years old.  Next are the top center pair.   It’s scary looking when you resemble a Halloween pumpkin, but, at least the Tooth Fairy helps make this time bearable.  Happily, a baby tooth typically doesn’t loosen until the permanent tooth below pushes it up to take its place.

When Do Teeth Start to Age?

Benefits of Eating More Dairy Products

The older you get, the more you realize that the meals you had growing up were maybe not so bad after all.

While Mom may not have had the resources about nutrition that are available to you today, especially via the internet, she really did know her stuff when you think about it.  So, where did Mom learn about the types of foods that make up the food pyramid – perhaps in her home economics class?  If you look back on meals when you were a youngster versus the suggested food groups to include in your daily diet, you might just concede that Mom was a smarter cookie than you ever gave her credit for.

For example, she filled your tummy with nutritious food, based on the five recommended food groups, a chart which really has not varied much through the years, and which guidelines are currently found at www.choosemyplate.gov and are listed below:

  • Vegetables (including legumes/beans);
  • Fruits (all fruits and juices);
  • Grains (mostly wholegrain and/or high-fiber cereal and bread);
  • Protein (lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts/seeds and legumes/beans); and
  • Dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese and/or alternatives, mostly reduced fat).

Indeed you are what you eat, and a diet consisting of these foods will give you the nutrition needed to stay healthy from youth to old age.

How to Keep Teeth Healthy as You Age

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful older people are works of art.” How true! If you care for yourself, mind, body, and spirit, you just might live to be a hundred… without looking it. So how do you go about caring for yourself in order to age gracefully? How about starting with your teeth? Did you know that, if not properly cared for, your teeth can make you look older even more than your skin? In a recent survey on perception of age, participants were shown photos of adults ages 40 to 90. When asked how old they thought the people in the pictures were, those with bad teeth were thought to be as much as 20 years older than they actually were in reality! But a younger, more attractive appearance isn’t the only reason to keep your teeth healthy as you age. It’s also been learned in recent medical studies that tooth decay may be directly linked to some medical conditions, including heart disease and diabetes. That’s why dental offices recommend the following tips for keeping your teeth healthy as you move from one stage of your life into the next.

Causes of Tooth Discoloration

Over time many people discover that the pearly white teeth they had in their youth have become discolored. It can become quite unsightly and some people become embarrassed to smile. Once you have discovered that your teeth have become discolored, you can ask your about the treatment options you have available.  Your dentist has many options when it comes to teeth whitening such as an in office tooth whitening, or something as simple as suggesting a change in your diet. If your teeth are discolored you should ask your dentist about the options you have for teeth whitening.

Teeth and Aging

Getting older can be challenging, especially considering all the health problems that can accompany this time of life. All too often, as we age, we begin to feel aches and pains that we never had before. We sometimes find we can’t do the things we used to, or at least we can’t do them with the speed or zeal we once did. But with all the challenges thrown at us as our bodies age, whoever considered their teeth would age too? Unfortunately, it’s true. Your teeth age just as the rest of your body does. In fact, as the health of your teeth goes, often so goes the health of the rest of your body. Recent studies have shown a link between the health of the teeth and the overall health of some of the body’s other functions, such as the cardiac system. So what can you do about this fact of life? Is there even anything that can be done to slow the aging process of your teeth? Top dental offices have answers to these and other questions about teeth and aging.