The idea that losing teeth is an inevitable part of aging is a common misconception. While it’s true that tooth loss occurs more frequently among older adults, it’s not a foregone conclusion. With proper oral care and preventive measures, you can keep your natural teeth healthy and strong well into your later years.
Why Tooth Loss Occurs
Tooth loss can be caused by various factors, including:
Gum disease: This is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Gum disease is an infection that affects the soft tissues around the teeth, eventually destroying the bone that supports them.
Tooth decay: This is caused by bacteria that build up on the teeth and form plaque. Plaque produces acids that can erode the enamel, the hard outer covering of the teeth. If left untreated, tooth decay can lead to cavities and eventually tooth loss.
Trauma: Injuries to the mouth or teeth can also cause tooth loss.
Other health conditions: Certain medical conditions, such as osteoporosis and diabetes, can increase the risk of tooth loss.
Preventive Measures
The good news is that you can take steps to prevent tooth loss and maintain healthy teeth for a lifetime. Here are some key strategies:
Practice good oral hygiene: This includes brushing your teeth twice a day for two minutes each time, flossing daily, and using a mouthwash.
Visit your dentist regularly: For professional cleanings and checkups.
Eat a healthy diet: Limit sugary foods and drinks, which can contribute to tooth decay.
Quit smoking: Smoking increases the risk of gum disease and other oral health problems.
In addition to these general recommendations, there are some specific things you can do to protect your teeth as you age:
Use a toothbrush with soft bristles: Hard bristles can damage your gums and enamel.
Consider using an electric toothbrush: Electric toothbrushes can be more effective at removing plaque and bacteria than manual toothbrushes.
Get regular fluoride treatments: Fluoride can help strengthen your teeth and prevent decay.
Myths about Tooth Loss and Aging
There are several common myths about tooth loss and aging. Here are a few of the most prevalent:
Myth: Losing teeth is a natural part of aging.
Fact: While tooth loss is more common among older adults, it’s not inevitable. With proper oral care, you can keep your teeth healthy for a lifetime.
Myth: You don’t need to see the dentist as often as you get older.
Fact: It’s important to continue seeing your dentist regularly for checkups and cleanings, even as you get older. Regular dental care can help detect and prevent problems early on.
Myth: There’s nothing you can do to prevent tooth loss.
Fact: There are many things you can do to prevent tooth loss, including practicing good oral hygiene, eating a healthy diet, and quitting smoking.
Losing teeth doesn’t have to be a part of aging. With proper care and preventive measures, you can enjoy a healthy smile for a lifetime. Talk to your dentist about ways to keep your teeth healthy and strong as you age.
Can a Tooth Infection Kill You? The Scary Truth About Dental Abscesses
People often ask, “Can a tooth infection kill you?” The answer, while alarming, is yes—if left untreated. What starts as a simple toothache can escalate into a dangerous dental abscess that spreads beyond the mouth, potentially becoming life-threatening.
In this post from our Weird Dental Facts series, we’ll explain how dental infections can turn deadly, the warning signs to look for, and what you can do to protect your health.
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How Can a Tooth Infection Become Life-Threatening?
A toothache might feel like a small problem, but if the underlying infection isn’t treated, it can spread. When bacteria enter the inner pulp of the tooth, they can create an abscess—a pocket of pus that may expand into the jaw, face, or even the bloodstream, leading to a condition called sepsis.
Untreated periodontal disease(gum disease) can also lead to abscess formation. The danger is that dental infections are not always painful in their early stages, causing many people to delay treatment until it’s too late.
What Is Ludwig’s Angina?
One of the most serious complications of an untreated dental infection is Ludwig’s Angina. This fast-spreading infection can travel from the roots of the teeth to the floor of the mouth and under the tongue, causing severe swelling. If the swelling blocks the airway or makes swallowing difficult, it becomes a medical emergency.
Immediate medical treatment—such as opening the airway, administering antibiotics, or even surgery—is often required to save a patient’s life. Delaying treatment can be fatal.
How Dental Infections Spread Beyond the Mouth
When bacteria from a tooth infection enter the bloodstream, they can travel to other parts of the body. In rare but severe cases, this can lead to heart infections (endocarditis), brain abscesses, or even sepsis. These complications highlight why early dental care is crucial—what starts as mild pain or swelling can spiral into a medical crisis if ignored.
Signs of a Serious Dental Infection
See a dentist right away if you notice any of the following warning signs:
Persistent or throbbing toothache
Swelling in the face, jaw, or under the tongue
Fever or general malaise
Difficulty swallowing or breathing
A foul taste or pus drainage in the mouth
How to Prevent Dangerous Dental Infections
The best way to avoid asking, “Can a tooth infection kill you?” is to take preventive steps:
Brush and floss daily to remove harmful bacteria.
See your dentist twice a year for check-ups and cleanings.
Limit sugary foods and drinks that feed harmful bacteria.
Boost your immune system with a balanced diet rich in vitamins C and D.
Never ignore a toothache, swelling, or signs of infection—early treatment is much safer and less costly.
FAQ: Can a Toothache Really Be Fatal?
Can a toothache kill you? A toothache itself won’t, but if the infection behind it spreads untreated, it can become deadly.
How fast can a dental infection spread? Some infections can progress in just a few days, especially if they move into the soft tissues of the neck or bloodstream.
What should I do if I suspect an abscess? See a dentist or doctor immediately. Do not attempt to drain it yourself—this can worsen the infection.
Key Takeaway
A tooth infection can, in rare cases, be fatal if left untreated. Don’t take chances with your health—seek professional dental care at the first sign of pain or swelling.
For more surprising dental trivia and health tips, visit our Weird Dental Factsarchive.
How Do I Know If My Tooth Infection Is Spreading?
Wondering if your dental issue is becoming serious? A key sign of a spreading infection is pain that worsens or radiates to the jaw, ear, or neck. Swelling in the face or under the tongue, difficulty breathing, fever, or a foul taste in your mouth are all red flags. If you’re asking, “can a tooth infection kill you?” the answer is that severe infections can become life-threatening if they block your airway or enter the bloodstream. Don’t wait—seek professional help immediately.
No matter how you slice it, tooth problems can be a pain. Among these, cracked teeth stand out for their confusing and erratic nature. A cracked tooth can be painful, annoying, and an exercise in frustration for patients and dentists alike. While there can be many factors that contribute to cracked teeth, the bottom line is that if your tooth is cracked the solution is often involved, potentially expensive — and, despite best efforts, tooth loss is still a very real possibility. Clicking on the picture below will take you to a compilation of questions and answers about cracked teeth. It covers a lot of ground, but if you think you may have a cracked tooth, it is worth reading so that you can know what to expect.
Effects of Soda on Teeth: Why You Should Save Your Smile
Do you ever stop to think about what happens every time you drink a soda? Many people don’t realize how damaging these sugary, acidic drinks are to their teeth—and the rest of their health. At your last dental checkup, did you find yourself sinking lower in the chair as cavity after cavity was found? If so, it’s time to ask yourself: how much soda are you drinking? The effects of soda on teeth are both immediate and long-term, and they’re more harmful than you might imagine.
Sugar and Acid: A Double Threat
Some of the worst cases of dental decay I’ve seen involve sodas and sweetened iced teas. A single 12 oz. can of soda contains roughly 12 teaspoons of sugar—basically liquid sugar! Read ingredient labels carefully for added syrups, concentrates, or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)—they all spell trouble for your teeth. According to the CDC, most Americans still consume far too many sugar-sweetened drinks, significantly increasing their risk of tooth decay.
Imagine watching someone stir 12 teaspoons of sugar into one cup of coffee—you’d be horrified! Yet most people drink cans, bottles, or even liters of soda daily without a second thought. The sugar feeds harmful bacteria in your mouth, producing acids that erode enamel and create the perfect conditions for cavities.
How Soda Causes Cavities Step-by-Step
The process is surprisingly fast. First, sugar in soda feeds bacteria that naturally live in your mouth. These bacteria produce acid as a byproduct. Combine that with the already acidic nature of soda itself, and you’re essentially giving your teeth a continuous acid bath. Over time, the enamel weakens, leading to cavities, sensitivity, and tooth decay. Even sugar-free sodas can cause enamel erosion because of their high acidity. The American Dental Association warns that frequent soda consumption dramatically increases your risk of long-term enamel loss.
The Acid Bath You Didn’t Expect
Sugar isn’t the only villain. Soda is so acidic that it can loosen rusty bolts or clean battery terminals—imagine that on your tooth enamel! This acid eats away at the protective outer layer, making your teeth more vulnerable to decay. Once enamel is gone, it doesn’t grow back. These effects of soda on teeth can happen faster than you think.
Beyond Your Mouth: Whole-Body Effects
Reducing soda benefits more than just your teeth. Frequent soda consumption has been linked to diabetes, kidney stones, osteoporosis, and even low potassium levels, which can lead to muscle weakness. Your body—and your dentist—will thank you when you swap soda for healthier alternatives.
What to Do Instead
If giving up soda feels difficult, start by cutting back slowly. Replace one soda a day with water, unsweetened sparkling water, or herbal tea. If you need help breaking the sugar habit, talk to your doctor or dentist. There are many ways to transition away from these harmful drinks while still enjoying refreshing beverages.
FAQ About Soda and Teeth
Does soda cause permanent damage to teeth? Yes, once enamel is eroded by the acids in soda, it cannot regrow. This makes teeth more prone to cavities and sensitivity.
Is diet soda safer for your teeth? Not really. While diet sodas lack sugar, they are still highly acidic and can erode enamel over time. Water and unsweetened alternatives are far better choices.
How quickly can soda damage teeth? Enamel softening can begin within just 20 minutes of exposure to soda. Sipping it throughout the day keeps your teeth under constant attack. This is one reason why the effects of soda on teeth are so harmful over time.
Key Takeaway
Cutting back on soda—or better yet, eliminating it—may be one of the best steps you can take for your oral and overall health. The effects of soda on teeth are well-documented: enamel erosion, cavities, and long-term dental problems. Don’t let this common habit rob you of your smile.
For more tips on protecting your teeth, visit our ToothWiz Blog page.
Recently, a great deal of attention has been placed on economizing in all different aspects of life. Some people have even considered cutting back in the area of health care by putting off routine maintenance care. While this is a little like playing Russian roulette when it comes to dental health — for reasons I’ll explain shortly — there may be a better way to dodge the financial bullet. And it may be a much simpler one.
After more than twenty years of practice I have seen people consider all sorts of ideas to deal with rising dental costs. Often, people become fixated upon dental insurance as the primary solution to the majority of their dental needs. Because dental insurance generally tends to be pretty expensive relative to what it pays out, especially if you are buying it yourself, patients that rely on it exclusively often end up worse than when they started. Dental insurance typically has waiting periods before it can be used, during which time existing conditions advance, becoming more expensive.
In these cases, you have to wonder – if the premiums are costing you more than what the company pays you back – what’s the point? Obviously, this arrangement is a much better deal for the insurance company than for the patient. Let’s also consider that when I first started practice, dental insurance maximums averaged $1,000 to $2,000 annually. Twenty years later, they average . . . $1,000 to $2,000 annually. If insurance kept up with inflation alone, the annual maximum should easily be over $5,000. Don’t hold your breath for that one though. Patients would be better off just setting aside the amount they pay for premiums. They usually come out better in the end.
Putting off dental care often becomes more costly to patients for several reasons. Firstly, many dental conditions are actually painless in the early stages. Periodontal disease is a prime example. This is a condition in which the bone surrounding the teeth becomes lost, leading to a variety of circumstances including bleeding gums, loose teeth, bad breath and, eventually, tooth loss. It is the number one reason that people loose teeth world-wide. For the most part, it doesn’t hurt. When it does, if it does, it is usually too late. The tooth or teeth have to come out.
Likewise, dental decay usually doesn’t hurt in the early stage. Actually, I’ve lost count of the number of times it didn’t hurt in the advanced stage either – but this is usually the point at which the patient becomes aware of a problem. A piece of the tooth breaks off, or they actually experience pain. The tragedy of this scenario is that when it reaches this stage teeth often end up requiring more expensive root canal therapy or extraction. Dental costs can very quickly escalate as much as ten times from the cost of a simple filling to what it costs to complete a root canal and crown.
So what do you do? Focus upon prevention.
Here is a true story I hope will leave as big impression upon you as it did me at the time:
When I was a dental student, I recall a lecture give by one of my professors in which he made a powerful point on the subject of prevention. The seminar dealt with the subject of prosthetics – more specifically, the fabrication of crowns and bridges. This professor, however, was one of those rare dentists who actually had two recognized specialties. He was a professor of prosthetics, but he was also a periodontist. While this was a crown and bridge lecture, he taught us a very valuable periodontal lesson.
Here’s what he did. The seminar was pretty informal at this point. The professor told us he was going to put up some slides of patients and have us guess their ages – just by looking at their x-rays and then at pictures of their gums. As a student, I remember thinking this was a refreshing little game and most of the class was doing quite well calling out the ages. Looking at the x-rays, we would evaluate bone levels, tooth eruption patterns, tooth wear, number of restorations and similar factors to make our “guess.” Then we would look at the color and texture of the gums and appearance of the smile and offer up our estimate. The professor would then show us the face of the patient and tell us their age. This went on for a while and we all did pretty well.
He then put up the next slides and guesses rang out: “twenty-five,” “thirty,” “twenty-seven,” went the typical guesses. I don’t think I can remember seeing a single filling on those slides, though there could have been. Nothing changed when he showed us a picture of the gums. They looked like a teen-ager’s. Then he put up a picture of the face. The person pictured was obviously in their late seventies, maybe even early eighties.
Dead silence. Then there was a small commotion and most of the class pointed out that the slides got mixed up.
The professor paused, and said “No. This is correct. Let me tell you how I can be sure. This is a picture of my father. Those are actual x-rays and a recent picture of his gums. How is it that he has such excellent oral health?”
He then went on to tell us how when his father was a younger man, he had a visit with his dentist and he complained to him that whenever he ate, he would get food stuck between his teeth. His father wanted to know if there was anything he could do about it, because it was pretty annoying.
The dad’s dentist thought about it for a second and told him: “Well, I’ll tell you what I do when that happens to me. I go over to my wife’s sewing kit and take out a piece of silk thread and just pass it between my teeth.” As a student, I wondered when floss became invented. Evidently, it just wasn’t popular back in those days.
In any case, our professor went on to explain that his father did exactly that after every meal since he was a young man. His gums, teeth and bone levels were almost unchanged. That’s what he had to show for his efforts.
I filed the image in the back of my mind, but I have to be honest – I didn’t exercise the same level of commitment – just yet.
Oh, sure, I brushed, watched what I ate, and took vitamin and mineral supplements. But my flossing was sporadic. That is, until I really started looking at what happened to my patients and how those who flossed performed against those who didn’t. If you asked me today: do I floss regularly? Absolutely. You can’t buy cheaper dental insurance.
Flossing benefits your gums, your breath, your teeth, your lungs, your heart – in short, you.
Do you know that probably up to a third of the cavities I treat happen between the teeth? This is why regular exams are so important. You simply can’t see this area. For that matter, without x-rays, neither can I in most cases. But my point here is simply this: even if you brush after every meal and snack, without flossing this area never gets cleaned. Why would anyone become surprised that an area that never got cleaned could decay over time?
There are all sorts of reasons people don’t like to floss, but the reasons to do it are actually pretty compelling and very cost-effective. Think it over. Maybe floss is the most affordable dental insurance. . . .
Consider this article a public service announcement. I really dislike it when patients lose their teeth unnecessarily. My practice philosophy is that if a person has a dental problem, the goal is to handle that difficulty first, but then empower the patient with the correct knowledge that will keep him out of trouble from there on out. Ideally, my hope is that most future visits to my office will only be for routine maintenance.
Unfortunately, and all too often, I encounter new patients with teeth that are so badly decayed there is little hope of salvage. Possibly just as frequently, I find these patients scheduling a checkup – usually after a long absence from dental care – who are surprised to learn that they have any cavities at all. Sometimes they will think they lost a filling when, in fact, a piece of their enamel has broken away.
Why are they surprised? The common denominator seems to be the idea that cavities are supposed to hurt.
Well, sometimes they do hurt. But most of the time – especially in the early stage – they don’t.
In fact, by the time a tooth does start to hurt you it’s usually pretty bad. More often than not, it is so bad that a dentist is evaluating whether it can be treated with endodontic (root canal) therapy or whether it needs to be extracted. A little understanding of basic dental anatomy is helpful here.
Take a look at the illustration below:
The outer layer of the tooth is comprised of enamel. This is the hardest substance in your body. It breaks up your food and is designed to last you a lifetime.
And now, here is the important part for you to understand: it doesn’t contain any nerves.
It is more than ninety-five percent mineral. Water and organic materials make up the balance. And because it doesn’t have nerves, it doesn’t have feeling. This is actually quite practical since it wouldn’t do to have pain every time you bit into something. On the other hand, it also means that it can be decayed without giving you a warning.
In fact, decay can also travel into the supporting layer – the dentin – and still not cause you pain. It usually has to travel pretty close to the inner layer that contains the blood vessels and nerves – the pulp – before you feel it. Of course, by then, the tooth has generally undergone considerable destruction.
Another factor that makes spotting decay difficult is the way it spreads. I have drawn two black triangles into the enamel above. Notice that the narrow point is on the outside of the enamel. The broader base faces the inside of the tooth. This is how decay usually travels. Sometimes, it will undermine the interior of the tooth while the outer, harder enamel still maintains its form . . . until it eventually crumbles because the underlying supporting dentin has been eaten away by decay.
Many cavities also form at the contact point between two teeth. These are areas that you simply cannot see. Even the dentist needs an x-ray to spot these cavities in most cases.
So what does all this really mean? Spotting decay is not always that easy. As dentists, we use visual examination, but we also rely on probes, x-rays, and even laser detection devices to locate cavities. Even then, it can be difficult to find cavities under existing fillings.
Don’t rely on pain to tell you if you have a cavity in your tooth. If you do, you can be assured that your treatment is likely to be more uncomfortable, expensive, and may even result in the loss of a tooth that could have been treated much more easily earlier in the game.
If you have a loved one, who still has their teeth and hasn’t seen a dentist in a while, have them read this article. You may be saving them from quite a bit of discomfort – not to mention time and money – if they catch potential problems before they are hopeless.
Some of you may be thinking, “No big deal. If it’s that bad, I’ll just pull it.” OK, sometimes that is necessary, but therein lies a lesson for another day.
Many of my patients have seen me use a dental instrument called a Diagnodent in the office. It is one of the latest diagnostic tools in dentistry.
No more poking and prodding. No additional radiation. No waiting until the film develops. A laser now detects cavities. And it may do it more accurately than conventional x-rays in many cases. How does it do it? It measures the amount of enamel and dentin lost and assigns a number using a special scale. The number helps the dentist decide if the tooth needs a filling or should just be checked again in several months. Small amounts of decay can disappear if the tooth hardens the softened enamel, a process called remineralization.
It gives you such accurate readings that if you decide to watch a tooth, six months down the road, you’ll rescan the tooth and check the reading. Sometimes we may find the numbers get smaller.
The device (the Diagnodent) is painless, and very safe. It does not necessarily find more decay. It helps us decide if it’s true decay. If small cavities are detected, patients can take steps that will help to remineralize the tooth and may avoid a filling entirely.
This new laser cavity detection system does not replace all x-ray technology. But it is one more tool we have to help keep your cavities small and your dental bill smaller.
Dr. Richard Walicki is a dentist practicing general and cosmetic dentistry. While we hope you find the information contained herein interesting and useful, this blog is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose any oral disease. Dental conditions should be evaluated by your dental health professional or a qualified specialist.
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