Show #257 Airing: Sunday, May 23, 2004
As we age, our smiles can become less like the crown jewels, and more like a royal pain. But there’s no edict that says an older smile cannot be glittering. Here to give us his golden nuggets of advice is our king of dentistry, a real prince of a guy, and I’m not jesting, Dr. Steven Marsh.
Question: We know that our bodies change as we get older, and our teeth change too. What are some of the common changes that come about as we age?
Answer: Teeth can wear and break down as we age. This can be due to habits such as grinding one’s teeth, chipping, or general wear and tear.
The teeth in the back wear down first, and that changes your bite. The change in bite makes the front teeth st art to wear down as well.
Question: Your teeth can shift over time too, can’t they?
Answer: Yes. Over time they can either become overcrowded or spread out.
Here’s an example of someone who was born with a space between her front teeth, but as she got older the space became bigger. It was fixed with veneers.
Here is someone with the opposite problem—their teeth became overcrowded over time.
One more example of someone with overlapping teeth who also needed them whitened. Color is another change that can happen as we age. The teeth here were reshaped, gum contouring took place, and veneers were used.
Question: When we’ve talked about smiles before, you mentioned that the lip can change when we’re older?
Answer: Yes, as we age the upper lip drops and covers the teeth.
Question: I know that a lot of our viewers have old, silver fillings. Can those be bad for our teeth?
Answer: Yes. Besides being unsightly, silver fillings can cause teeth to breakdown further. Here is a patient who broke off p art of the wall of a tooth that had a silver filling. Once we went in to clean the tooth out, this is what is left behind—further decay.
Here’s another patient with multiple silver fillings. The silver was cleaned out, and tooth-colored filling was used.
Getting older doesn’t mean you have to abdicate a youthful smile. Give Dr. Marsh a call to see how yours can become your crowning glory.
