Maintaining good oral care habits and dental hygiene is an essential part of any age. When your parents no longer remind you about flossing, brushing your teeth or your bi-annually checkup, it is easy to forget about maintaining a good oral health routine. Here are some helpful things you should know about your dental routine as you grow older.
How Important Is My Mouth?
Your mouth is one of the essential parts of human anatomy. Studies have shown that there is a connection between maintaining good oral hygiene and the rest of your body functioning well. Oral health and general health problems such as gum inflammations, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory problems are related to bacteria from gum infections that travel in the bloodstream affecting your organs and tissues. Gum disease and oral cancer become a growing concern with the older demographic, but by seeing your dentist for regular key checkups will help you prevent it or treat it as quickly as possible. If you take care of your mouth, not only will your teeth last you longer, but your overall health will benefit as well.
What Can Affect My Oral Health Over Time?
As you age, your mouth and teeth change. Many things will have an inevitable impact on your oral health and can cause severe problems, such as taking medications for various health concerns. As we become older, your list of medications becomes increasingly longer. Some medications can cause dry mouth, and a lack of saliva causes bad breath and can lead to oral irritations. Talk to your dentist about how to maintain good oral health when on medications.
Unfortunately, your bright pearly whites don’t stay white forever. A lifetime of drinking coffee, red wine, tea, and tobacco will cause the enamel to stain. The enamel thins out and cracks with age, making it vital to talk to your dentist for the next steps of safeguarding your enamel. Your dentist will provide you with some long-term solutions to prevent and protect your teeth from staining.
Maintain Regular Check-Ups
Brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing, and drinking water are key factors in your dental routine, but there are things that only your dentist will be able to treat and detect. When you are older, you become more prone to oral health problems making regular check-ups of vital importance.
Check-ups can be a financial burden, especially when you are no longer benefiting from sturdy health insurance in your retired years. If you continuously avoid going to the dentist because the costs are too high, your oral health will suffer, and some dental problems may be irreversible. Your teeth are extremely strong, but they are not indestructible! Years of crunching, gnawing and grinding, and acidic foods can destroy the outer layer of enamel, flatten the edges of the teeth and cause cavities. Regular check-ups with your dentist will allow you to smile all year long!
Incorporating a rigorous dental routine and a good lifestyle will benefit health. Contact us at Yazdani Family Dentistry; we are happy to discuss any questions you may have about your dental routine.
