When Demi Moore appeared on “The Tonight Show” recently, she admitted she’s missing two of her front teeth. And when Jimmy Fallon held up a photo showing her missing teeth, she gave a surprising reason as to what happened to them.
According to the actress, she lost her front teeth because of stress. “Stress sheared off my front teeth,” Moore confessed. Which makes us want to know, can that really happen? Can stress cause us to lose our teeth? And the scary answer is yes!
Dentist and professor Mark S. Wolff says it can happen, but it’s not as simple as feeling stressed and having your teeth suddenly fall out. He explains that people can “clench and grind their teeth to an extent that they loosen and the supporting bone is destroyed.”
But he also says it’s not common to lose your two front teeth if you’re getting regular dental exams and cleanings. The dentist checks your teeth for mobility, makes sure your teeth aren’t hitting your dental arch more than they’re supposed to, and makes sure there’s no gum disease, which can speed up bone loss, increasing the chance you could lose a tooth.
So basically, yes, stress can cause you to lose teeth, but seeing your dentist regularly can prevent that from happening. As much as we don’t like going for dental checkups, we like our smiles more and want to keep them.
Source: Glamour
Thought Starters:
How stressed was Demi Moore that her teeth fell out? Are you good about getting to the dentist for regular checkups and cleanings? Do you ever worry about losing your teeth? Do you ever dream about teeth falling out?