🦷 Teeth Shift With Age? Rude.

...Another Midlife Surprise No One Warned Me About

Let’s talk about teeth. Yes—your teeth keep moving after braces, retainers, wisdom teeth, and decades of dental bills. Who knew? Not me. And apparently not most people, because no one talks about it until suddenly your bottom teeth are doing the cha-cha slide and slicing your tongue like it's beef.

My dentist kept bringing it up during cleanings, saying things like, “You might want to consider correcting that lower crowding,” and “There’s a little shifting happening.” And I, in all my suspicious wisdom, thought: He’s just trying to get money out of me.

Bless his heart… he was actually trying to help.

Fast forward to me standing in front of the mirror with a bottom tooth trying to make a jailbreak and my tongue getting the worst of it. That’s when I finally listened.

Now? I wear Candid liners (same concept as Invisalign) and let me tell you:

1. They hurt.

2. They work.

3. I don’t snore as much. Wait, what?

Yeah. Apparently, aligning your teeth can actually help your airway. Who knew my snoring wasn’t just from being sleep deprived or my allergies? It was my crooked teeth being petty (Oops, did I say I snore? Don't tell my husband I admitted that.).

Now, I’m not saying this is a big deal to everybody. Some people can rock the crooked-tooth look and be perfectly fine. But listen—I already made peace with letting my gray hair grow in. I can't do gray hair AND crooked teeth. That’s too much midlife realness for me. One adjustment at a time, please.

Did I fail to mention that many women lose at least one tooth during menopause? Listen, talk to your dentist and take good care of your teeth and gums.

And if your dentist has been gently hinting (or bluntly begging) you to look into aligners, take it from me: it’s worth it. Not just for the look—but for your tongue, your sleep, and your dignity. Because nobody wants to be out here in their prime, rocking a snaggle-toothed smile they didn’t sign up for.

Until the next hot flash…

 💋 LB