Is There a Way to Avoid Needing Dentures As I Get Older?

Ideally, our adult teeth last our lifetime. But that’s not always how things go. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 26% of adults over the age of 65 have lost at least some teeth, and 17% have lost all their teeth.

Why you may have good reason to associate dentures with growing older, that doesn’t mean tooth loss is an inevitable part of aging. By taking a few steps, you can do a lot to reduce your risk of tooth loss throughout your lifetime. 

With convenient, comfortable teeth cleaning services to help you keep your teeth in top shape, Dr. Sujay Trivedi, Dr. Michael Westcott, and our team at Family Dental Care are here to help, too. Visiting us twice a year at our office in West Palm Beach, Florida, gives you a powerful way to maintain your teeth.

Beyond that, we have a few other tips you can employ to protect your teeth:

1. Brush and floss daily

For your teeth to last your lifetime, you need them to stay healthy. That means protecting them from decay. You need to take daily action here. Specifically, brushing and flossing give you a way to remove plaque from all of the surfaces of your teeth. 

Plaque contains bacteria that can eat through your tooth’s hard outer coating (enamel) into the sensitive and critical pulp inside. Your toothbrush and floss are your first line of defense against tooth loss. 

2. Watch for gum issues

Keeping your teeth clean isn’t the only part of a healthy mouth. In fact, gum disease is a leading driver of tooth loss. Check your gums periodically for:

• Redness
• Tenderness
• Bleeding
• Swelling

All of these may indicate gum disease. If you catch it early, you can treat gum disease relatively easily. But if you let it escalate, it can cause your gums to detach from your teeth, increasing your risk of losing them. 

3. Don’t smoke cigarettes 

On a similar note, smoking heightens your chances of developing gum disease. As a result, there’s a very strong and direct link between smoking and tooth loss. 

4. Get regular professional dental care

While your toothbrush and floss can remove plaque from your teeth, many people miss certain areas in their daily oral care. Left unchecked, plaque hardens into tartar, which you can’t get off on your own. 

Instead, you’ll need a professional teeth cleaning to clear away tartar and the decay-causing bacteria in it. That’s where we come in. Visit us twice a year for the cleaning and exam of your oral health needs. At your appointment, we can also check you for other tooth loss risk factors, like cavities and gum disease. 

To lower your risk of needing dentures by scheduling a teeth cleaning, call our Family Dental Care team at 561-556-1698 today, or use our easy online booking tool anytime.