How to Tone Your Jaw
With age, we all experience bone loss, in some degree. Facially, we get shorter, wider, and flatter. Shrinkage in the upper jaw (the maxilla) and the lower (the mandible) are big contributors to reduced facial height.
The alveolar ridge—that rim of skin and bone you feel when you run your tongue up to the roots of your upper two front teeth—recedes, and that eventually can even affect your speech.
Tooth Loss
Tooth loss contributes in a big way to loss of bone density. A missing tooth results in reduced stimulation to the bone around it. The consequence: reduced density and dimension in that bone.
The lower jaw bone—the mandible—supports the lower face. Reduced bone density in the mandible as we age leads to a shrinking lower jaw with reduced, shallower angles. The chin diminishes. Facial features become less defined. There is less support for soft facial and neck tissues and facial and neck skin begin to sag. Take good care of your teeth! You might find my book Raw Food Diet and Your Compromised Teeth helpful.
The Raw Food Diet
and Your Compromised Teeth
How the Human Body Builds Bone Mass
If you experience loss of bone mass in your jaw, the lack of physical activity is to blame! To illustrate this we have to understand how the human body builds bone mass. Bones are piezoelectric: they give off an electric current when they are mechanically stressed. In other words, if you take a bone, and apply pressure to it, it will actually produce an electric charge. In your body, this electric charge attracts a matrix of minerals to the location that's being stressed where they add to the bone mass density and essentially build bigger and stronger bones. So you know to exercise your body, but how about the frame for your face, in particular your jawbone?
Thorough Chewing
Thorough chewing can greatly aid in the prevention of dental erosion and loss of bone mass. Saliva provides buffering capacity that resists acid attacks. This buffering capacity increases with the flow of saliva. The more you chew thoroughly, the greater the salivary flow rate. Saliva is also supersaturated with calcium and phosphorus, which inhibits demineralization of tooth structure.
If no pressure is applied to the bone it will be re-absorbed so that the priceless calcium can be deposited elsewhere. The jawbone begins to dissolve, resulting in concave surfaces, causing that "sunken mouth" look. This sunken appearance to the lower face makes us look older than we actually are. Bone loss also contributes to deep wrinkling, a pointed chin and jowls, and reduction in biting strength. It could be concluded that the lack of hard chewing because of missing teeth, crowns or other dental work adversely affects the growth and development of the jaw.
Only the jawbone that has chewed often and hard will retain its shape and form. Here is another reason to eat your salad: chewing your raw foods, such as greens, vegetables and roots is very good for your beauty!
Jaw Exercises
The following exercises will help prevent bone atrophy and shrinking gums. These simple exercises will bring fullness to the drooping, wrinkled and sagging lips and help to restore normal facial aesthetics.
Be aware that these exercises are very uncomfortable at first! Like any exercise the discomfort diminishes as you get stronger.
Closing Your Jaw with Resistence: Place your thumb upwards against your upper teeth while you push down against your lower teeth with your index finger and close your mouth while resisting with your fingers.
Repeat 20 times per day!
Opening Your Jaw with Resistence: Place you fist under your chin and press up while you open your jaw. Hold your elbow on the table while doing the exercises. I found that using a small rubber ball (about 5 inches in diameter) instead of my fist works better for me! You can buy such a ball at any department store in the toys section.
Repeat 20 times every day.
Moving Your Jaw Sideways with Resistence: Hold your right fist against your lower jaw. Now move your jaw sideways to the right while resisting the movement with your fist; then hold your left fist against your left jaw and move your jaw sideways to the left against your fist.
Repeat 20 times every day.
For my complete facial exercise regimen refer to Rawsome Flex.
For everything connected to your mandible and maxilla, exercise really counts. An exercise that will benefit your jaw, your gums, your teeth, and, ultimately, your good looks, is chewing gum. Popping in a piece of Pine Resin Chewing Gum (It is back in stock!) is a great way to get your exercise anywhere! Taking care of your gums and exercising your jaws is a simple way to help diminish the appearance of those unwanted lip lines.
A new way to get your chewing exercises in is the Siberian Pine Resin Gum!
Siberian Pine Gum
Natural and sugar-free!