Tips for slowing down ageing of teeth
Teeth are an ever changing entity and they can start to age early on. With time, your teeth will shift and you lose bone, which can lead to receding gums. Read here how to stop ageing of your teeth.
- Cut Down Wear and Tear : Your teeth are crazy strong. Still, they will wear down. All that chewing, grinding, and biting wears away the enamel – that hard, outer layer of your teeth. It also flattens the parts you use when you bite and chew. You can’t erase a lifetime of wear and tear, without having it restored by a dentist, but you can keep it from getting worse. Don’t chew ice or other hard foods. That can cause chips in your enamel and even broken teeth.
- Keep Your Gums Healthy: Bacteria, called plaque is always forming on your teeth. If you don’t remove it, it can cause soreness, swelling, and bleeding in your gums. It can even cause infections that hurt the bone underneath.
- Follow proper brushing instructions: Always use soft fine bristles toothbrush in vertical strokes on front and back teeth for at least 4-5 minutes using a non-abrasive toothpaste. Avoid using ash, woodsticks, tooth powder,coal, tobacco etc to clean your teeth.
- Don’t Let Your Mouth Dry Out: Saliva helps clean teeth and protects your mouth from decay. But as you get older, your mouth gets drier because of slowed down functioning of saliva making glands and your odds of tooth decay go up. Your medication could be to blame. Lots of drugs dry you out. To fight back, drink more water. Hold it in your mouth for a few seconds before you swallow. You can also suck on sugarless candy or chew sugarless gum. If you think drugs are the cause, talk to your doctor about changing them.
- Follow a nutritious balanced diet with antioxidants and do exercise: Healthy mouth can keep your whole body in overall well-functioning and good BMR. And vice versa is also true. Hence a healthy diet with lots of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, calcium, iron etc and mild exercise can keep both your heart and teeth doing well to beat the age.
- Be Kind to Sensitive Teeth: Worn enamel, gum problems, and tooth decay can all make your teeth more sensitive. It can hurt when you drink something too hot or cold or even when you brush your teeth a little too hard.
- If you have sensitive teeth:Â the ask your dentist to recommend a toothpaste or in-office treatment that will make you more comfortable.
- Look Out for Acid: Fizzy drinks and citrus fruits and juices all contain acid. Sugary and starchy foods cause your mouth to make acid. Both of these wear away the enamel on the teeth. Don’t swish these drinks around in mouth take milk or cheese later to “cancel out” the acid. Eat sugary and starchy foods with your main meals, not as snacks. That’s when your mouth makes the most saliva to help wash acid away.
- Look  out for symptoms of GERD: if you have  repeated complaints of stomach acidity and regurgitation of acid or food back into mouth you must see a medical physician/gastroenterologist because acid reflux can be one of the causes of erosion of teeth.
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Preserving What You Have
- Brush effectively in vertical strokes on front and back teeth twice daily. Powered toothbrushes are good for old people to give them a better control.
- Practice good personal oral hygiene. That means brushing for two minutes after every meal and flossing and rinsing twice a day.
- Talk to your dentist about your specific problems to find the right product for you. There are toothpastes that lighten, toothpastes for sensitive teeth, toothpastes for heavy stainers and more.
- Consider increasing your number of professional in-office cleanings to twice or three times a year. As gums recede, there’s a larger area where food particles can get stuck. In turn, more plaque forms and the rate of decay can increase.
- If you have restorations like fillings, veneers or crowns, have them checked periodically. They can last longer only when proper care is given.
- Get a night guard fitted if you feel you clench or bite your teeth in sleep. Anyone who has too much constant stress in their lives (and who doesn’t?) will tend to clench or grind their teeth in their sleep.