6 Tips for Keeping Your Jaw Healthy as You Age

A lot of natural changes occur in your body as you start growing old. These changes may overwhelm you as well, which is why you should make sure that you take proper care of yourself as you hit your 40s. 

Though you might start taking care of yourself with supplements and exercise, your jaw also requires care and attention as you age. Maintaining a healthy jawbone is central as it serves as the supporting structure for your tongue, tooth, and lips.

Though around 3.1% of Pikesville’s population under the age of 65 don’t have health insurance, the city has a lot of orthodontic centers that could offer you a treatment plan that is within your budget and can help you keep your jaw healthy.

 Here are a few steps you can follow to take care of your jaw as you grow old: 

As you can see, the HPI poll demonstrates dentists see an increased prevalence of stress-related oral health conditions. Which 71% of cases are of teeth grinding and clenching.

Grinding, a condition known as bruxism, is an involuntary condition that leads to you grinding your sets, mostly in your sleep. 

This also happens during times of anxiety or tension, without you even knowing the damage that you are inflicting upon your jaw. It may lead to microfractures in your sets, chipped and cracked sets, and even tooth loss in some cases.

The condition is not only responsible for tooth damage but is also a cause of extreme headaches, earaches, as well as facial pain in some older people. However, you can always treat this condition by seeking the right kind of Orthodontic treatment in Pikesville that is both affordable and customizable.

 Your orthodontist may initially guide you with tips to prevent bruxism, such as anti-anxiety pills and bite guards. However, in serious cases, you may also have to go through orthodontic treatment, such as braces or injections. 

Weaker bones are one of the most prominent symptoms of old age, but you can avoid them by bolstering your calcium intake. 

Interesting Fact
People having osteoporosis might be at risk of tooth loss. It is because their jawbones become less dense, however, tooth loss can occur.

Our sets are surrounded by cementum, a bone-like structure, and hence have a tendency to fall out due to a lack of calcium. This happens with growing age because the ability of our bodies to absorb calcium keeps declining; therefore, you need to increase your calcium intake with the help of different kinds of foods or supplements. 

The problem is more common in older women but can also occur in men. To ensure healthy bones and teeth, the calcium intake of men should be somewhere around 1000 mg each day.

 However, due to higher susceptibility to bone disease in women, their calcium intake should be at least 1200 mg a day. Too much calcium intake can also be harmful and cause conditions such as kidney stones, so maintain a good balance. 

As you grow older must select the right diet for your health goals, the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and a balance of soft and hard foods grows, too. 

Make sure that you avoid foods that put a lot of pressure on your sets since they lose their ability to handle that much pressure after a certain age. Also, make sure that your diet has enough nutrients to maintain your oral health. 

Consume foods that are rich in calcium, like almonds, milk, beans, celery, etc. Consuming a diet with lean protein and enough whole grains, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, is beneficial for your temporomandibular joints, commonly known as TMJ. 

Most importantly, you should avoid foods with extra sugar and starch content since they may end up causing tooth decay and other problems. 

Even though your jaw needs regular exercise to stay in shape, you should give it a break from too much stress. You might have to cut down on habits like chewing gum all day, which can make your jaw stiff.

 Jaws aren’t designed to work all the time; therefore, chewing and talking too much and having hard foods can put a lot of pressure on them, making them weak. 

Your TMJ is susceptible to damage when excessively used. It needs a lot of rest to recover from pain whenever it is excessively strained by eating or chewing, just like your knee and elbow joints. 

Losing your teeth as an adult is common. Whenever a tooth falls out, the bone that supports that tooth wears out due to lack of stimulation. This happens because your body realizes that it is no longer needed. 

This reduces the overall amount of bone in your mouth. This may also end up changing your face shape and causing damage to the surrounding sets. 

However, if you have missing teeth, this condition is treatable with the help of dental implants. They are surgically placed in your jawbone to replace those that have fallen out, stimulating your jawbone and maintaining its structure. 

Visit your dentist for a dental implant immediately after tooth loss, or else its absence may end up completely eroding your bone. 

Taking good care of your oral hygiene is imperative in old age but is often neglected. Regular habits like brushing your sets twice a day with good fluoride toothpaste and a toothbrush with soft bristles are central to avoiding tooth decay as you grow old.

Besides these regular habits, you should take extra care of your mouth after a certain age to maintain its function. You need to make sure that you floss your teeth to remove plaque and residual food particles at least once a day. 

Did You Know?
Two in three (66%) of adults have visible plaque.

Your mouth needs enough hydration, which is often difficult for older people to maintain due to excessive medication use. However, you can always use certain types of mouthwashes and lozenges that can help stimulate saliva production in your mouth and help keep it hydrated.  

Wrapping Up

Taking good care of your jaw can help you avoid a lot of problems that are common in older people. You need to make sure that you visit your dentist more often after hitting a certain age since the natural weakening of teeth is inevitable. Orthodontists can help you diagnose a potential condition before it becomes problematic and difficult to treat.