Just wondering - does wine taste different if you don't have teeth?

Does the presence/absence of teeth affect perception/appreciation of wine?

Mouthfeel?

Calcium/mineral level in wine?

Kind of an off-hand topic, I know, just wondering what people will say.

Some that qualify to answer that question may not want that revealed. My guess is no. The olfactory sense and the sensory receptors on our tongue and palate are still in place and actively providing feedback.

Good point about qualified but not wanting to say.

Question prompted by my own sense of mortality evinced by tooth decay.

That`s why I stated “my guess”.

I am in a blind tasting wine club where the majority (7 members) are dentists/oral surgeons. They are also mostly 20 plus years my senior (65 or older).
This topic came up a few years ago when one the oldest members had already lost some of his teeth and were replaced. Some issues with taste had arose. If I recall the poligrip type products affect the taste buds if applied within hours of tasting. HE also said food was more likley to remain in the tooth area with dentures/false teeth than with real teeth and therefore he 1) had bad breath at times and 2) impacted his perceptions/tastings of wine.
Neither prevented him from tasting wines as he applied his dental products well in advance and avoided eating foods until the flights of wines were tasted. He than ate food while drinking wine (tasting and drinking are very different things in my life at least)

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We have so much to look forward to! Thank you for posting.

I think taste occurs on a scatter diagram that’s impacted by all sorts if factors; genetic, age, physiology, diet, social training, experience and yes, probably teeth.

Your blueberry isn’t my blackberry. Your salty isn’t my salty.

And hopefully your halitosis won’t be the merde in my wine! neener

I’ve heard that without teeth wines seem to have less bite :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Hal

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You might want to go to West Virginia and ask people there. [stirthepothal.gif] The old joke, how do we know that the toothbrush was invented in West Virginia? Answer, if it had been invented anywhere else, it would be called the teethbrush.

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Mods, please add to Hall of Fame thread.

A good one Howard and a new one to me. Can`t wait to lay this on my WV friends. Actually, it could also apply to Arkansas where I know even more folks.

With no teeth at all (not even falsies), surely perception of mouthfeel must be different?

My wine tastes weird after I brush my teeth. I may stop.

and some wine I have drunk has teeth

I have actually heard this using a bunch of states. The first time I heard this was WV, so I went with that.

Apparently, Florida will soon be added to the states where the joke applies. [snort.gif]

Some are quite chewy

and some have been pretty gummy

So much for describing wines as having “crunchy red fruit”.