So, the average 21 year old American starts their adult life with 28 teeth but by the time they reach 44 years old, 69% have lost at least one tooth, by the age of 50 they have lost 12 teeth (including wisdom teeth) and by age 74, 26% have lost all of their teeth.
The rest of the teeth follow suit — a baby tooth lost leaves room for an adult tooth to emerge. Most children lose their last baby tooth around the age of 12. All non-wisdom teeth are typically in place around your child's 13th birthday.
While it isn't necessarily normal that your teeth fall out in your 40s, it also isn't all that unusual. Up to 69% of people lose at least one tooth due to decay by the time they are 44. That isn't including all the other ways people can lose teeth.
The Sad Truth About Tooth Loss
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), by age 50, most Americans have lost an average of 12 teeth. The full adult dentition consists of 32 teeth.
Although losing baby teeth is completely normal, losing adult teeth is not. Tooth loss is far from inevitable. While time and age can cause a decline in oral health, it is not age itself that causes tooth loss and other problems.
The chance of having tooth damage severe enough to require a root canal or similarly invasive procedure triples once you're over age 65.
Periodontal disease is the most common cause of tooth loss among adults.
When do kids lose their first tooth? Children usually lose their first tooth around 5 or 6 years old. But every child is unique. Some will lose their first tooth as early as 4 years old or as late as 7 years old.
Gum disease—Also known as periodontal disease, gum disease is the No. 1 cause of tooth loss in adults. It is a serious infection that affects the soft tissue and bone supporting your teeth. Without treatment, gum disease can destroy the supporting bone and cause tooth loss.
Periodontal disease is one of the leading causes of tooth loss. Injuries and oral-dental trauma may also cause tooth loss. Risk factors for tooth loss include poor oral hygiene, tobacco use, dry mouth, gum disease (gingivitis) and some prescription medications.
The average child has their full set of 20 primary teeth by the age of 3 years. Between the ages of about 6 and 7 years, the primary teeth start to shed and the permanent teeth begin to come through. By the age of about 21 years, the average person has 32 permanent teeth – 16 in the upper jaw and 16 in the lower jaw.
While stress itself cannot cause your teeth to fall out of your mouth, stress can cause other health related issues, which in and of themselves can cause your teeth to eventually fall out.
If periodontal disease develops due to missing teeth, it could ultimately raise risks to general health. Untreated gum disease has been linked to increased risks of several serious (even life-threatening) health conditions, including stroke, hypertension, heart disease, dementia, and some types of cancer.
Our teeth are designed to work in pairs, with each upper tooth “matched” to a corresponding lower tooth. When one goes missing, pressure on the matched tooth is also gone, leaving that tooth to shift and weaken as well.
Average Teeth Per Age Group
For Americans aged between 20 and 34, the average is just under 27 teeth (26.90) remaining. By the time you hit 49 years, you are feasibly down to 25.05 teeth on average. Once you get to 64, you are pretty average if you have around 22 (22.30) teeth still in your mouth.
Tables 1 and 2 present information about tooth loss for seniors aged 65 years and older and for selected population groups. Seniors 65 years and older have an average of 20.7 remaining teeth.
Joint pain and headaches
The shifting of teeth disrupts the smooth functioning of the 'joint and teeth system'. This may cause pain in the temporo-mandibular joint and the related muscles that are used for biting and grinding food. It may also cause chronic headaches and neck pain.
Tooth loss causes and treatments are widely discussed simply because 27 percent of all seniors over the age of 65 have lost not one or two, but all of their teeth! Tooth enamel is one of the hardest substances your body produces, but over a lifetime it does wear down and our teeth begin the process of breaking down.
The most common missing teeth are wisdom teeth, upper lateral incisors, and second premolars/bicuspids.
If a tooth is loose because of gum disease, it might tighten back up with consistent and proper dental hygiene. A deep cleaning with a hygienist called Scaling & Root Planing is typically the best treatment option. If a tooth is loose because of an injury, it likely won't tighten back up.
If you brush your teeth regularly, you can help to remove plaque buildup. It is this plaque that is responsible for causing gum disease and decay, both of which can make your teeth weak and cause them to fall out of your mouth if left untreated.
Periodontitis (per-e-o-don-TIE-tis), also called gum disease, is a serious gum infection that damages the soft tissue around teeth. Without treatment, periodontitis can destroy the bone that supports your teeth. This can cause teeth to loosen or lead to tooth loss. Periodontitis is common but can usually be prevented.
In all these cases, researchers concluded that depression and anxiety were related to tooth loss. Poor self confidence, poor diet and pain are often the unfortunate consequences of tooth loss that can result in depression.