4 Weird Signs You’re Getting Older

My lower teeth have grown a lot more crooked over the last few years. This is a surprise. They were once perfectly straight, thanks to braces that stayed on throughout three ungainly middle school years.

I asked a few friends in midlife whether they had noticed the same thing, and some reported that they, too, had newly crooked lower teeth.

So I called Dr. Leila Jahangiri, chair of prosthodontics at New York University College of Dentistry, and asked her if this experience was common. It’s not unusual for teeth to “shift and drift” as you age, she said, and it tends to occur more in the bottom teeth than the top.

Not everyone’s teeth move as they age, she added, but if they do, common reasons include the loss of a tooth; gum disease, which can make teeth unstable; and wear on the teeth from things like grinding.

But my conversation with Dr. Jahangiri got me wondering: Are there other surprising ways we change as we get older? What’s considered normal, and what isn’t? I went to the experts.

Your voice may change.

As adults age, their vocal cords often become thinner and less supple, and they may not close as firmly, said Dr. Ted Mau, director of the voice center at UT Southwestern Medical Center. As a result, your voice can become weaker or raspier.

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