The Effect of Aging on Teeth

In Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario

Like the rest of your body, your teeth and gums respond to aging. Many older adults find that their teeth and gums begin to decay at an accelerated rate as they age, and you may feel that this is simply an effect of aging and cannot be helped. However, understanding how your teeth and gums respond to aging can help you care for them, and hopefully keep them, throughout your senior years.

Aging Teeth

Your teeth may not wrinkle like your skin, but they suffer from the effects of aging as much as any other part of your body. Like the rest of your body, how well your teeth respond to aging is dependent on how you treat them while you are younger, including:

• Nutrition
• Oral and dental hygiene
• Repairing damaged teeth
• Avoiding damaging habits, like smoking or chewing on hard candy or ice

Each of these can protect or contribute to the breakdown and increased brittleness of your teeth over time. Many older people also complain of xerostomia, the technical name for dry mouth. More than just uncomfortable, the lack of saliva to rinse food and bacteria from your teeth can contribute to the increased breakdown of your tooth structure and promote problems like cavities and periodontal disease, the leading cause of tooth loss.

If you have lost one or more teeth, we offer several different options for tooth replacement, including dental bridges, dental implants, and dentures.

Aging Gums

As your gums age, it is likely that they will recede, exposing the roots of your teeth more and offering less protection for your teeth. For this reason it is all the more important that you have regular dental cleanings twice a year to promote tooth health and mitigate where your body can no longer naturally clean and protect your teeth and gums.

Regular dental cleanings will prevent plaque and tartar from building up at the base of your teeth or becoming lodged under your receding gums and leading to disease. Early intervention and periodontal therapy can protect you from needing more invasive treatments later, including tooth replacement, gum grafts, and bone grafts.

Smoking

Smoking negatively affect your teeth and gums, just as it can negatively affect the rest of your body, even more so in many cases. The nature of smoking requires that your mouth come in close and frequent contact with harmful chemicals. As you age, smoking promotes:

• Dry mouth
• Oral cancer
• Stains on teeth
• Weak gums
• Oral disease

Unlike the rest of your body which must flush out the toxins accumulated by smoking over a period of time, the benefit to your mouth is immediate when you quit smoking.

To learn more about the effects of aging on teeth and how to prevent dental breakdown in your senior years, please contact Willow Dental Associates today, serving Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario.