Dental Hygiene Tips For The Golden Years
While it’s still more common than not for those of us over 60 to have one or more false teeth, modern dentistry techniques and dental hygiene products are allowing more and more Americans to carry at least some of their original teeth up past retirement age. But while that’s a fairly impressive accomplishment, old age is no time to slack off when it comes to taking care of your teeth. In fact, there are a few additional pitfalls to watch out for:
Dry Mouth
A lack of saliva is not a natural part of growing old, but it is a frequent side effect of many medications, and medications are a frequent side effect of growing old. To combat this issue, you may need to resort to something like chewing gum to keep the saliva flowing or else sip from a bottle of water throughout the day to keep your mouth lubricated. Saliva doesn’t just make food easier to chew and swallow, it also flushes excess bacteria out of your mouth, so the risk of plaque buildup and gum disease goes up without it.
Osteoporosis
Not only does this disease lead to more frequent and more serious broken bones, it also weakens the jawbones and therefore the anchors that keep your teeth in place. Thus, it’s just as important to fight osteoporosis for good dental health as it is to fight it for good bone health. This includes getting plenty of calcium, of course, but there are also a number of new medications that are having an impact on gradual bone loss.
Insufficient Dental Hygiene
No matter how carefully you’ve been treating your teeth over the years, a gradual loss of enamel is inevitable. You only start with so much when your body first grows your permanent teeth, and the amount never goes up throughout the rest of your life.
As such, the older you get, the more important it is to brush, floss, and visit your dentist for a checkup twice per year. Fluoride is also extra important thanks to its ability to recrystallize decaying enamel.
Getting to 60 with most of your teeth intact is an accomplishment that’s worth praising. But having managed that, your next goal should be to go another 20-30 years without losing one more.