One should visit a dentist on a regular basis, irrespective of their age. It is very much important for the individual to maintain oral health and have good looking and sparkling teeth. However, this is something that is necessary for every senior citizen. This is because seniors are much more susceptible towards having dental issues due to cognitive or physical issues faced by them.
Specific issues that are generally faced by older people
- Cavities: These are much more associated closely with children. But people at any age could get them. It is a problem that is generally noticed in people who are above 65 years and older. Risk of this type of condition tends to increase with age since older adults do not visit dentists often, like they used to before. Hence, cavities might go untreated and undetected for a long time and create issues in the teeth of the patient.
- Problem in eating: Those who have dentures that are ill fitting, missing teeth, oral infections, gum disease or cavities may find it difficult to consume all types of food. This particular problem could lead towards issues with their balanced diet, as well as food quality that is being consumed. Visiting a dentist is undoubtedly of much importance for those who face this type of problem since it could become easily a quality of life problem.
- Dry mouth: There are many seniors, who could suffer due to dry mouth also called xerostomia. It is a fact that saliva does play an important role to help prevent tooth decay. However, most seniors who have been taking multiple medications can cause them to have dry mouth. It includes blood pressure medications, pain kills, antihistamines, incontinence medications, decongestants, etc. Majority of the experts tend to recommend that it is important for seniors to reduce intake of caffeine and alcohol and drink plenty of water for combating this issue.
- Gum disease: It results due to infection of gum along with other issues, which keep the teeth in place securely. Typically gum disease gets worse with the aging of the person, thereby leading to experiencing significant pain while chewing. Two common forms of this type of disease are periodontitis and gingivitis. Symptoms of the latter tend to include swollen, red gums, which bleed much easily while the former is said to occur as gums separate from teeth, thereby parting spaces, which could later get infected. Both type of gum disease do lead towards building up of plaque on teeth. In case, this plaque does not get removed regularly, then it could turn into tartar, which would not be cleaned just by brushing alone. It is only a reputed and experienced dentist, who could effectively and safely have this material removed.
With proper brushing and flossing, it becomes easy to mitigate such issues along with other common oral health problems. It is also termed to be the best way for preventing them completely, which can be done by visiting the dentist regularly.
Author’s Bio: The author is currently associated with elitedentistrywa and writes articles pertaining to dentist and their role to help senior citizens to have strong, healthy teeth.