Can you remember a time when you thought about what your teeth do for you ? Whether you have noticed or not, they actually do many amazing things for you. It’s easy to take all the things that we use and do in everyday life for granted – as a Dentist, I know the importance of a healthy set of choppers and I would like to pay respect to the humble tooth by outlining a few excellent reasons to be grateful for your teeth.
They Do The Chewing
Your teeth tear, munch and grind all the varied foods you eat each and every day. This process is called mastication or chewing for short. For proper and faster digestion of your food you must first chew your food and your “pearly whites” do the job of cutting, chomping and grinding. So, the first step to good digestion involves your choppers. Food enters your mouth and is immediately broken down into smaller pieces – and each and every type of tooth you have is important and serves a different function in the chewing process !
They Help To Give Your Face Beauty.
The importance of the face in social interaction is widely recognized. Your teeth play an important role in giving your face its fullness and aesthetic shape. Absence of teeth can have many physiological, emotional and social consequences. A beautiful big and confident smile is the first thing many people notice, its the facial expression that most engages others. Teeth provide the structural support for your facial muscles to work well – they help to form your ability to display your emotions through your expressions.
They Help You Speak and Articulate.
Try saying this phrase – “I’m thankful for my teeth”. Now notice how your tongue touched your teeth during the “th” and “t” sounds and how your upper teeth touched your lower lip to say the word “for” – your tongue uses your teeth for positioning and for forming words. So try speaking without your teeth, it’s harder than you think – right ?
They Affect the Shape of Your Face
Imagine this picture – A 99-year-old man with no teeth, his face all sunken in, short and scrunched up. It’s your teeth that support your lips and cheeks and make your face appear longer. So, teeth or lack of them affect the shape and length of your face.
They are a whole system.
Missing teeth can cause troubles because they are the placeholders for one another. Think of your teeth as a complete system – when you have a missing tooth your other teeth can move and this can impact your entire bite.
They Keep Your Jaw Bones Strong
Your jawbones stay healthy, thick and strong because they work hard holding onto your teeth. Chewing on well-anchored choppers provides an optimal way to stress and exercise the density of your jawbones, which can begin to shrink and atrophy from lack of use. Without teeth you will probably want a denture, however many people who have been without teeth for a very long time have difficulty with the fitting and fixture of a denture as they simply don’t have enough bone to support it.
So join me in paying homage to the humble tooth by looking after them ! Book into the Dental Pod for your check up and help your choppers to continue to do the great job they are designed to do !
Call Your Hobart Dentist Dr Matthew Clougher on 6234 5114
Because it’s time you thought differently about your dental health.