Is it normal to get old? Is it the natural aging process? Listen to what the doctor has to say

June 27, 2016, laughing, having a mouth full of teeth can not only increase a person's self-confidence, but also indicate good health. Entering the old age, the overall situation of teeth is the same as other organs, the structure and function tend to age, many elderly people's teeth have been "laid off", a mouth will reveal a few lonely "stick to the post" teeth.

As the gateway to the digestive system, the oral cavity plays an important role, and the teeth also play an important role: nutritious foods need to be chewed by the teeth to be more easily absorbed and utilized by the gastrointestinal tract; the human body can improve health, overcome diseases and prolong life after obtaining nutrients. Once the dentition is defective and missing, it will cause many adverse health problems. But the elderly often feel that it is normal to feel that they have fewer teeth, "others say that old teeth, old teeth is normal aging." ”

Is it normal to get old? Is it a natural aging process? The dentist said, no!

I waited for my teeth to fall off one by one

Aunt Fang, 73, is a cheerful and enthusiastic person who often smiles heartily when chatting with others, revealing her only three remaining front teeth. Aunt Fang began a long process of tooth loss when she was less than 60 years old, and over the years, she saw her teeth disappear one by one, and now she only has three teeth left in her mouth.

There are fewer teeth, and the first problem is that there is less fun to eat. "Now I have a lot of trouble eating every day, and I can't chew it up." Aunt Fang's only three remaining teeth are all upper teeth, and there is no corresponding lower teeth to support, so every time she eats, she tries to eat some soft and rotten food. Nuts such as peanuts and rice have been eaten after being crushed for many years.

Although her teeth fell out like this, Aunt Fang always felt that it was normal for her teeth to fall out. "Old teeth, old teeth, old teeth, old teeth." Now, Aunt Fang's plan is to wait for the last three teeth to fall out a little bit, and then go to full dentures. In fact, Aunt Fang has long wanted to pull out these last three teeth, she heard that private small hospitals are cheaper, so she went to several private clinics with preferential prices to inquire, and as a result, the doctors in the private clinic heard that her blood pressure was high and her heart was not good, and insisted on not extracting her teeth.

When people are old, do they have to return to childhood, and even their teeth must return to the "baby" era? Of course not. As early as 2001, the World Health Organization proposed the "8020 Plan", that is, 80-year-olds should have at least 20 functional teeth. In general, wisdom teeth are not counted, and each person has 28 permanent teeth. When 1 to 2 teeth fall out, it does not affect the health of the whole body, but when less than 20 teeth are left, it begins to affect the function of multiple systems in the body. Therefore, the World Health Organization proposed the "8020 Plan", the purpose is to ensure health and improve the quality of life by extending the life of teeth. If everyone protects their teeth well enough, by the age of 80, they can have 20 teeth.

The 82-year-old Mr. Liu still maintains a good mouth, and his trick is to go to the dentist every year. Some time ago, he came to the Department of Periodontology of Peking University Stomatological Hospital and asked Director Luan Qingxian to show him the teeth. Luan Qing took a look: "You are awesome! Your teeth are fully compliant with the '8020' standard. Mr. Liu told Luan Qingxian that he went to the hospital every year to see his teeth, "Good teeth are particularly important, and good teeth are good." "Like Mr. Liu, when he reaches the age of 80, there are not many elderly people who can protect their teeth so well, and even many people have gradually lost their teeth since the middle and young age stages." On the whole, the oral health of Chinese is not optimistic. The National Oral Health Epidemiological Survey found that 86% of the elderly aged 65 to 74 have missing teeth, and 10% of the 65- to 74-year-olds have no teeth at all. Many elderly people do not attach importance to oral health, often mistakenly think that the problem of teeth is the tooth thing, in fact, the health of teeth is related to the whole body, it can be said that dental disease is connected to the heart, brain, and blood sugar.

Periodontal disease is the main cause of aging

"Everyone knows that even if the car is not a problem, it must be maintained regularly; the teeth are the same, they need to be checked regularly, regularly 'maintained', rather than waiting until the teeth fall out and mistakenly thinking that it is natural aging." Zhang Li, deputy chief physician of the Department of Periodontology at Peking University Stomatological Hospital, said that even if a person feels that his teeth are particularly healthy, he should also go to the stomatology department once a year for examination, and if there is a problem with oral health, he can treat it early.

"Thinking that old teeth are normal is actually a wrong understanding." Zhang Li said that with the increase of age, the teeth will indeed undergo some changes, such as some teeth will have wear, some teeth will appear cracks, and the tooth support tissue, which is what the people call the alveolar bone, will be slightly lost. But these "age-increasing" changes do not lead to "aging" in the elderly. The main cause of "aging" is periodontal disease.

If the root of each tooth is likened to the root of a large tree, the tooth support tissue can be likened to soil. Problems with periodontal tissue are equivalent to "soil loosening", and over time, the "tree" falls. Zhang Li said that periodontal problems have long been signals, but the signals of periodontal disease are often not as obvious as caries. "Caries is characterized by pain, even if it is not to the extent of pain, there will be damage on the tooth surface, and the patient will at least know that there is a hole in the tooth." Periodontal problems are "silent", some people's symptoms are bleeding gums, or transient swelling and pain in the gums, etc., most people ignore it, thinking that it will be better after a while. In fact, when the gums bleed or the gums are swollen and painful, the tooth support tissue has been destroyed. In addition, periodontal disease has another characteristic of the destruction of dental support tissues, that is, irreversible. "Once the bone is damaged, it is difficult to get it back to its original state." Zhang Li said that after bleeding gums, you must go to the doctor; there is no problem with your teeth, and you must also go to the dentistry once a year for a routine examination. "As long as you pay attention to protecting your teeth, 'old teeth' can be avoided."

Poor teeth can affect the health of the whole body

A mouth full of beautiful, neat teeth is a sign of health. Zhang Li said that each tooth has its own role and has special functions. After the tooth is missing, the balance of the entire mouth will be disrupted, if not repaired in time, it will often lead to the tilting and displacement of the remaining teeth near the gap between the missing teeth, the gap between the missing teeth will gradually shrink, the extension of the jaw teeth, the local bite relationship is disordered, the chewing function will decrease, food incarceration, caries, periodontal injury and other problems. The loss of teeth can also affect the pronunciation function of the mouth. The teeth work with the tongue, lip, and buccal muscles to control the route and flow of air through the mouth, making different sounds. Losing one or two teeth has little effect on pronunciation, but it is much more missing, especially when the front teeth are missing or all teeth are missing, and speaking is both laborious and unclear. After all the teeth are missing, the support between the upper and lower jaws is lost, and it will gradually metamorphose and atrophy, resulting in the length of the jaw becoming shorter, the cheeks and surrounding muscles relaxing, the facial deformation and wrinkles increasing, and the person looks older than his peers.

In fact, the impact of the health of teeth on the body is not only staying on the "surface", but also affecting the function of the whole body. Studies have shown that muscle movement when chewing in a healthy state of teeth can increase the amount of cerebral blood flow to promote brain activation and reduce the chance of Alzheimer's disease. In addition, periodontal disease has a high degree of homology with the pathogenic bacteria of many systemic diseases, so when the periodontal condition is not good, systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease and blood diseases are prone to occur.

Zhang Li said that she often encounters elderly patients with diabetes in the outpatient clinic, and when periodontal problems occur, blood sugar control is often not smooth; once periodontal disease is better, blood sugar control is relatively good. This is because there is a "vicious cycle" between periodontal disease and diabetes: periodontitis is inflammation of supporting tissues caused by plaque and calculus deposition, and periodontal infections can react counteractively on blood sugar control. The inflammatory mediators produced by periodontal disease can affect lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, leading to a vicious cycle between diabetes and periodontal disease, and some inflammatory mediators can also cause insulin resistance. After periodontal problems occur, due to the destruction of tissues in the oral cavity, bacteria and harmful substances enter the blood vessels, resulting in the heart and arteries being affected by periodontal pathogenic bacteria. Long-term exposure to these bacteria can affect the lining of the arteries, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction. The bacteria of periodontal disease can bind cholesterol in blood vessels to ester cells, forming thrombotic clots. These thrombuses can lead to the formation of heart diseases such as arteriosclerosis, stroke, ischemic heart disease, and coronary artery blockage. Studies have shown that if older adults are treated regularly for periodontal disease, their risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced.

"Behind the aging is not natural aging, but various health risks." Zhang Li especially reminded the elderly and middle-aged people in the early stage to protect oral health, especially pay attention to periodontal disease, "If you start to lose teeth at the age of 40 this year, you should pay more attention to the health of your teeth, carry out professional dental treatment as soon as possible, and insist on going to the dentist regularly like regularly maintaining the car." For everyone, timely detection and treatment of oral diseases, and adhere to maintenance, after the elderly oral health can be maintained in a more ideal state, to achieve the goal of '8020', to lay the foundation for the health of the whole body. ”

Source: Beijing Evening News, Beiwan New Vision Network reporter Jia Xiaohong