Study Says: Teeth Crowded In Seniors

The fact that the size of our jaws decreases with age is shown in a unique research study performed by the Faculty of Dentistry at Malmö University.  Actually, this study began more than 60 years ago.  Plaster molds were made of the jaws of dental students, who were then in their twenties and the procedure was then repeated every 10 years.  Forty years after the first molds, a final round was performed.

Lars Bondemark, Professor of Orthodontics, who analyzed the material together with his colleague Maria Nilner, Professor of Clinical Bite Physiology, at the College of Dentistry, Malmö University, mentioned that they have "found that over these forty years there was less and less room for teeth in the jaw."

This crowding comes from shrinkage of the jaw, and that was enough to crowd the front teeth.

"We can also eliminate wisdom teeth as the cause, because even people who did not have wisdom teeth, have crowded front teeth," the researcher added.  "We're working against nature, and it's hard to construct something that is completely stable."

There is still no scientific explanation as to why the jaws change throughout life, but perhaps the magnitude of the change is determined by both hereditary and anatomical factors.