Don't Be Afraid to Get That Dental Work You Need

« Back to Home

Do Teeth Get More Crooked The Older You Get?

Posted on

As one ages, certain changes naturally occur. Skin gets looser or saggier, wrinkles develop, and teeth can be worn down. However, if you're noticing that your teeth are getting more crooked as you get older, this isn't a normal or healthy thing to have happen. Here's why your teeth might be getting more crooked the older you get and what you can do about it.

Bad Habits

Even if you thought it wasn't affecting you previously, bad habits like biting your nails can have a long-term cumulative effect. The changes they cause in the alignment of your teeth start out as minor and can even go unnoticed entirely. But if done often enough, the resulting changes will become noticeable. Give into certain bad habits long enough and your teeth may become badly crooked.

Bad Bite

A poorly-aligned bite can actually cause teeth to become more crooked over time. This is because pressure isn't evenly balanced across your teeth, so some teeth may be pushed out of alignment while they're trying to do the work of multiple teeth.

Gum Disease

Gum disease, when severe enough, can actually cause your teeth to become crooked. This is because as the gum disease progresses, it can weaken or destroy the supportive bone in the teeth or the jaw itself, allowing the teeth to become wiggly, crooked, or out of alignment.

What to Do

All of these problems can be treated with the help of a dentist. If you have gum disease, you're going to need to have that treated first before getting the alignment of your teeth corrected. Doing so can help to preserve the teeth you have, so don't put off this step.

Once your gums are healthy, you're going to need braces to improve the alignment of your teeth. Thankfully, many more varieties of braces now exist and you won't necessarily have to walk around with metal brackets adhered to your teeth in middle age or older.

Braces can fix the alignment problems with your teeth, which will resolve the bad bite problem and prevent your teeth from moving around once the braces treatment is complete. However, biting your nails will ultimately continue to move your teeth out of alignment, so break this habit before you complete your braces treatment.

Having your teeth get more crooked with age isn't something that you have to experience. With the right tools, professional care, and knowledge, you can keep your teeth from getting worse as you grow older. Visit a dentist office to get started putting your teeth back where they belong.


Share