Chew Yourself Fit: Why Chewing Ability Is Health
Chewing Is Not a Side Issue
25 September is Germany's Day of Dental Health (Tag der Zahngesundheit). The 2026 motto is "Health begins in the mouth – chew yourself fit!", and it points at something almost nobody notices in daily life: chewing is the first stage of digestion, a daily workout for the jaw and its muscles, and a measurable factor in how healthy we stay as we age. People who can chew forcefully and without pain eat differently, absorb nutrients differently and keep their minds sharper for longer.
The Day of Dental Health has been held every year on 25 September since 1991. It is organised by an action group of around 30 organisations, including the German Dental Association (Bundeszahnärztekammer), the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-Spitzenverband) and the Association for Dental Hygiene (Verein für Zahnhygiene) (source: Aktionskreis zum Tag der Zahngesundheit, press release 2026).
"Unrestricted, pain-free chewing ability is one of the pillars on which our well-being rests – every day, for a lifetime." — Aktionskreis zum Tag der Zahngesundheit, press release for 25 September 2026
This article explains what is behind the motto, what the latest German Oral Health Study reveals about tooth loss across a lifetime, and what you can do so that your chewing ability lasts as long as possible.
What Happens in the Body When You Chew
Chewing breaks food down and mixes it with saliva. Only then are carbohydrates pre-digested, fats and proteins made accessible to the stomach, and vitamins from fibre-rich vegetables released at all. People who chew poorly swallow larger pieces, digest less efficiently and unconsciously drift towards soft, often highly processed foods.
That is exactly what the 2026 motto targets. The German Dental Association points out that highly processed, soft products and sugary drinks reduce chewing activity while promoting caries at the same time. The jaw is a muscular system, and muscles waste when they are not challenged.
"Only when the jaw is challenged regularly does its musculature stay strong." — Bundeszahnärztekammer (German Dental Association), press information for the Day of Dental Health, 2026
The effects reach well beyond the mouth:
- Digestion and nutrient uptake: Thoroughly chewed food is broken down better. With restricted chewing function, dietary variety demonstrably declines, especially fruit, vegetables and whole grains.
- Speech development: In toddlers, vigorous chewing supports the development of the mouth and tongue muscles and therefore sound formation.
- Cognition in later life: A study by the Karolinska Institutet found that older people who struggled to chew hard food had a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment. Whether they chewed with their own teeth or with dentures made no difference. Function was what counted (source: Karolinska Institutet, reported by zm-online).
- Nutritional status: Studies of geriatric patients show a close link between inadequate removable dentures and malnutrition, with reduced intake of energy, protein, fibre and calcium (source: zm-online, malnutrition and prosthetic care).
The action group words it carefully: experimental and epidemiological studies give indications that restricted chewing function could be associated with a higher risk of dementia. That is not proof of cause and effect. But it is a good reason to take chewing ability seriously before it is gone.
What the DMS 6 Shows About Tooth Loss Over a Lifetime
In April 2026, the 6th German Oral Health Study (DMS 6) by the Institute of German Dentists (IDZ) presented longitudinal data for the first time: the same people were examined again after nine years. That makes visible when in life teeth are lost, and why.
The good news first. People aged 35 to 44 in the 1990s had already lost more than five teeth. Today's younger adults are missing just one tooth on average. 80 percent of 12-year-olds are caries-free, and the share of completely edentulous 65- to 74-year-olds has fallen to around 5 percent (source: IDZ, DMS 6, press statement 14 April 2026 and results portal 2025).
"The common terminal stage of caries and periodontitis is tooth loss – a process that usually takes years and decades." — Prof. Dr. A. Rainer Jordan, Scientific Director of the IDZ, press statement on the DMS 6, 14 April 2026
The less good news lies in the trajectory:
- 62 percent of seniors lose teeth within nine years, twice as many as in middle adulthood.
- Adults lose an average of 0.6 teeth in nine years; seniors lose 2 teeth, a good three times as many.
- People who still had a full set of teeth lose far fewer teeth than people who had already lost some. The first lost tooth is often the start of a chain.
- People with diabetes are missing twice as many teeth on average as people without diabetes.
- The decisive worsening of periodontitis happens between the ages of 40 and 50. Most treatment, however, only takes place in old age. Too late, as the IDZ itself puts it.
(Source: IDZ, DMS 6, press statement 14 April 2026; KZBV, press release on the DMS 6, 2026)
For chewing ability this means: the battle for your teeth in old age is not decided in old age, but between 40 and 60. Anyone who controls periodontitis in this phase, preserves teeth instead of extracting them and closes gaps promptly will chew differently at 75 than someone who waited.
Why Every Single Tooth Counts for Chewing
A dentition is a system of contacts. When a back tooth is missing, the chewing load shifts to the neighbouring teeth, the opposing tooth grows into the gap and the neighbours tip. That changes the bite, overloads individual teeth and makes them more prone to cracks and periodontitis. A gap in the back of the mouth is therefore not a cosmetic question but a functional one.
Then there is bite force itself. A natural tooth is suspended in the bone by a fibre apparatus that reports load back to the brain. That feedback is largely absent with removable dentures, which is why people with full dentures chew measurably more weakly and drift towards softer food. Fixed restorations on natural teeth or on implants come much closer to natural function.
For us, this produces a clear order of priorities:
- Preserve natural teeth for as long as they can be kept in a biologically sensible way. That is the core of our tooth preservation: treat caries early, treat root canals under the microscope, spot cracks before the tooth breaks.
- Stabilise the supporting tissues. Periodontitis is the most common cause of tooth loss in adults. Structured periodontics with maintenance care is the most effective investment in your chewing ability at 70.
- Close gaps functionally. When a tooth can no longer be saved, the restoration decides your chewing function for the coming decades. Dental implants restore bite force most closely, because they are anchored in the bone and neighbouring teeth do not need to be ground down.
From 1 January 2027, the fixed subsidies paid by German statutory health insurance for dentures will also drop by ten percentage points. Preserving teeth instead of replacing them therefore gives you the longer lever both functionally and financially. We summarised exactly what changes in our article on the German health reform 2027.
Chew Yourself Fit: What You Can Do
The action group's motto is meant literally. Chewing ability can be trained and maintained, at any age:
- Eat chew-intensive food: raw vegetables, crunchy salads, nuts, wholegrain bread with a crust, apples with the skin on. The jaw needs resistance, just like any other muscle.
- Cut down on highly processed food: soft, sugary products reduce chewing activity and raise caries risk at the same time. Two disadvantages in one bite.
- Sugar-free chewing gum after meals: stimulates saliva flow, neutralises acids and trains the muscles. The German Dental Association explicitly names it as a healthy alternative.
- Chew on both sides: people who chew on one side only, out of habit or because of pain, overload that side and let the other waste. One-sided chewing is often the first sign that a tooth is causing trouble.
- Clean between the teeth: more than half of all tooth surfaces are still covered in plaque after brushing (source: IDZ, DMS 6). Interdental brushes reach the places where periodontitis begins.
- Have chewing pain checked: pain when biting down, a tooth that feels "different" when chewing, or discomfort in the jaw joint are not things to get used to. They are usually an early symptom that can be treated.
- Attend regular preventive care: a professional dental cleaning removes the biofilm where brush and floss cannot reach, and it is the appointment at which changes in the gums are noticed early.
Our practice in the WiloHealthCube at Wilopark 15 in Dortmund-Hörde opens in January 2027. Until then, for everyone who wants to act now: the most important contribution to your chewing ability is not tomorrow's denture, but the natural tooth that is preserved today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the 2026 Day of Dental Health motto "chew yourself fit" mean?
In 2026 the action group behind the Day of Dental Health puts chewing ability centre stage. The point is that forceful, pain-free chewing preserves health at every age: it supports digestion and nutrient uptake, trains the jaw muscles, supports speech development in children and helps preserve mental abilities in later life. The awareness day has been held every year on 25 September since 1991.
Can poor chewing really raise the risk of dementia?
There are indications, but no proof of a causal link. A study by the Karolinska Institutet showed that older people who had difficulty chewing hard food had a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment, regardless of whether they chewed with their own teeth or with dentures. The suspected mechanism is that reduced chewing movement lowers blood flow to and stimulation of certain brain regions. Preserved chewing function is therefore a sensible goal, not a promise.
How many teeth does a person lose over a lifetime?
Far fewer than in the past. According to the DMS 6, today's 35- to 44-year-olds are missing only one tooth on average; in the 1990s this age group had lost more than five. In old age the risk rises, however: 62 percent of seniors lose teeth within nine years, two on average. People who still have all their teeth lose further teeth far less often than people with their first gaps.
Why is a missing molar a problem if it does not bother me?
Because the dentition shifts. Neighbouring teeth tip into the gap, the opposing tooth over-erupts and the chewing load is spread across fewer teeth. That raises the risk of cracks, overload and periodontitis in the remaining teeth. A gap in the back of the mouth is therefore a functional question, even if it is invisible from the outside.
Do you chew with implants the way you chew with natural teeth?
Almost. Implants are anchored firmly in the bone and transmit bite force in a similar way to natural roots, so bite force is well above that of a removable denture. What is missing is the fibre apparatus of the natural tooth, which reports load back to the brain in fine detail. That is why, for us, preserving the natural tooth always comes before replacing it, and an implant before a removable solution.
From what age should I actively work on preserving chewing ability?
From 40 at the latest. The DMS 6 shows that the decisive worsening of periodontitis takes place between 40 and 50, while most treatment only happens in old age. Anyone who has their gums checked in this decade, preserves teeth and closes gaps promptly lays the foundation for still chewing forcefully on both sides at 70.