Elder Dental Care
As we age, our minds often continue to be inquisitive learning new skills, but dental health often loses ground. So much of aging is about managing infections and maintaining quality of life while starting down the slippery slope of bone loss and tooth loss. Without intervention, these can become crippling.
Another common condition of adult patients is the poor alignment of teeth which reduces a person’s chewing ability. Untreated, this can result in increased dental needs and a regrettable lifestyle change when favorite foods have to be eliminated and facial features recede. But if treated soon enough, the need for bridges and dentures can sometimes be avoided or at least delayed.
Evidence based treatments of dentists who are knowledgeable and experienced in current innovative elder dental care treatments help us make decisions about appropriate procedures to suggest concerning the right care for each of our patients. This may involve focusing on quality of life regarding the ease and comfort of eating through managed tooth retention and careful maintenance in order to avoid extractions and the need for dentures. Or it may require choices involving implanted permanent teeth or removable teeth such as a bridge or denture.
What is acceptable to you? What is acceptable to your parents or your other relatives who live with life-changing trauma or inevitable age-related changes? Past dental care, biology, and genetics will of course be critical in determining the options which are available to a patient. Then consistent good dental care will determine the success of these options.
