Turning 50 and Common Dental Concerns
So, you just turned 50. Congratulations. Happy birthday. And you may have a missing tooth, a couple broken down teeth, maybe your gums bleed occasionally, and you’re like, “Eh, I don’t need to get that fixed. I’m old. It doesn’t matter.” Your dental health has a tremendous impact on your overall health as you age. I’m here to tell you why.
Oral Health and Overall Health
If you are missing teeth or have broken down teeth, why it’s important to address those when you’re still young, because it will have an impact on your future health. So, unfortunately, what happens in your mouth doesn’t stay in your mouth. Science has come a long way, and we’re starting to see a lot of links between oral disease and the rest of the body disease.
The bacteria in your mouth can spread and actually they’re finding a lot of the bacteria and plaque are the exact same bacteria that lines some of the heart linings that can lead to atherosclerosis and other heart disease. So the impact of your oral health can play a major role on your cardiac health. It can play a role on your brain health, kidneys, livers, blood sugar. There’s so many systems in the body that are impacted by oral health.
Missing Teeth and Bone Loss
And there’s this link going on now that we’re really finding we really need to focus on oral health to help prevent further downstream issues. So, even if aesthetically you don’t care how missing tooth looks or broken down tooth looks because if you let infection or unhealthy mouth exist for a long time, it will start to affect other systems in your body.
As we get older, our body naturally starts to resorb bone. And unfortunately, the body is very efficient in the mouth, especially because if you’re missing a tooth, the body realizes you don’t need that bone anymore, and it’ll start to absorb and dissolve that bone away. And in fact, the lower jaw resorbs at a rate about four times faster than the upper jaw.
Why Early Treatment Matters
And so, if you’re missing a tooth and you don’t address that early on, it can lead to significant bone loss. And bone loss can have impacts not only on your health, but also on the appearance of your face and your jawbones.
And once you lose that bone, unfortunately, we’re not to the point where we can grow back all that bone naturally. We don’t have a magic potion or a wand we can wave to allow that bone to automatically regenerate. There are procedures we can do to grow a little bit of bone, but unfortunately, the best time to save and maintain bone is right when that tooth is lost.
Dental Implants and Function
So, if you’re missing a tooth or multiple teeth, the best option we have is come in to see us. Let us put in a dental implant or multiple dental implants and restore those with functioning, healthy teeth that not only allow you to chew and function, but also protect and maintain that bone level.
How Teeth Affect Eating and Nutrition
So, let’s talk food. Everybody loves to eat. I love to eat. But if you have missing teeth or broken down teeth or even ill-fitting partials or dentures, you’re not going to be allowed to chew and digest the food in a healthy way.
A lot of times we have patients that actually avoid certain foods or will only eat on one side of the mouth. And unfortunately, what happens is you start to lose back teeth, you end up doing a lot of chewing with just those front teeth. And those front teeth are not designed for that.
Those front teeth are designed to cut through the food, send it to the back for the big guys to do all the grinding. And unfortunately, when you’re missing those teeth, it’s not your fault, but that’s the only way you can function.
The Impact on Quality of Life
And so, a lot of times when we lose those back teeth, we start to see the front teeth break down a lot quicker than the back teeth. So, if you’re in a situation where you’ve got a broken tooth or even missing teeth, unfortunately, it can impact not only your digestion because you can’t break down and chew the foods, but also sometimes your food selection is going to change.
You might avoid eating certain foods and getting some nutrients that you really need. So, it can actually lead to a little bit of malnutrition.
Addressing the Root Problem
And so, it’s one of those things where if you address the problem, the root problem of the missing or broken tooth and we can get your mouth back to healthy so you can start to eat all the foods you want and break down those foods correctly.
Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of patients that come to me and say, “I’ve been neglecting my teeth. I’ve been missing this tooth. It hurts to chew. And so, I’ve spent so much time and energy focusing on what foods I can eat. I’ve had to change my diet. I’ve had to modify. I don’t get to eat my favorite things anymore.”
And as a dentist, that breaks my heart because I love to eat and I know what the solution is.
It’s Not Too Late
And if they had come to us earlier, we could have got their teeth fixed and they could get back on track and eat the things that they really enjoy.
So, while pain and discomfort from missing or broken teeth, some people choose to live with because they’re maybe afraid of the dentist. They’re worried about what is going to be involved in fixing it, the quality of life that you’re going to have by coming in, seeing us, letting us fix that problem, and getting you back to eating the food you enjoy without pain and discomfort is well worth any kind of short-term discomfort of having to come see the dentist.
Caring for Patients as They Age
So, as a prosthodontist, the majority of my patients are in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, even 90s. It’s really important for us to have a relationship so I can help guide them through as they get older in life because I really see the impact of failing teeth and not addressing things earlier having a really large impact on the quality of life.
This isn’t just about having a pretty smile into your 80s and 90s and looking good in pictures. It really is about maintaining function and the overall health of your mouth. Because as you get older, the quality and function of your mouth gets more and more important in the quality of your life.
Final Thoughts
So, if you’ve been putting off fixing that broken tooth or missing tooth or tooth that hurts you because you think it’s because it’s too late. I’m already 50, 60, 70. That’s not the issue. The sooner you can come in and see us, the sooner we can get that fixed and improve your quality of life.
So, right now is the perfect time for you to come in, see us, and let us help you. So, if you look below, you’ll see our number. You can drop a question in the comments or just come see us in Atlanta.
I’m Dr. Brett Langston. I’m here to help you watch your mouth.
English 
Spanish