Introductions: Dental care for seniors are different from regular patients. Many of the challenges faced by them require a different approach, resources and protocol than regular patients. Like accessibility, manual dexterity, systemic diseases, medications, reduced immunity & healing capacity.
Some of the challenges faced by seniors and older adults in India for their dental care are…
- No provision of social security majority dental treatment expenses is out of the pocket.
- No provision of insurance to cover Dental treatment.
- As per Indian customs mother &/or father goes to their son/daughter when they are expecting a baby in the foreign land. at that time having proper dental checkup/treatment
As age advances some changes in the body are inevitable like cataract, osteoporosis, graying of hair, wrinkles on the skin so as with the teeth, gums, and mucosa and jaw bone. If the changes related to teeth are known in advance it becomes easy to face & deal with them.
Changes can be * Physical: i.e. color of teeth * Physiological: reduced saliva * Emotional: maladjustment with removable appliance * Pathological: root caries.
Changes in Teeth:
- Brittleness: Brittleness due to reducing in vascularity inside the tooth. Tooth with large filling may require a crown.
- Color Teeth: Color teeth become darker due to deposition of dentine inside the tooth. If your concern is cosmetic you can avail the help of cosmetic dental treatment and make your teeth brighter.
- Smile Line: Curvature present on tooth edges gets were off and the tooth becomes flattened which gives one senile look. Smile design can help you gain your lost appearance.
- Teeth Sensitivity: these may be due to root exposure. Filling and desensitizing paste may help with this.
Changes in Gums:
- Recession: The recession occurs which causes spaces between gums, one may feel teeth becoming longer due to gum recession, maintaining that space with a special device known as “Inter Dental Brush” is sufficient. A tooth may become sensitive to hot & cold due to exposure of root.
- Enlargement of Gums: Many medicines like for Blood pressure, depression, epilepsy may cause enlargement of gums. Keeping good home care of teeth by brushing two times a day, flossing, using Interdental brush & regular professional cleaning will go a long way in preventing gum disease.
Changes in Mucosa:
- Postmenopausal atrophy: Postmenopausal atrophy of mucosa & gums may cause denture sore spots & ulcers with their conventional denture. Switching to denture with implants will solve your problem.
- Fungal Infection: Not keeping denture hygiene and reduced immunity may cause fungal infection (candida) in denture wearer. A patient may feel soreness in mouth or feel like denture is hot. Maintaining good hygiene of denture & disinfection of denture helps in prevention. Your dentist will help you regarding infection.
- Alteration in taste: On the off chance that the change in the feeling of taste is because of gum infection, dental plaque, a transitory solution, or a fleeting condition, for example, a cool, the dysgeusia ought to vanish once the reason is evacuated.
Reduction in Saliva:
Many types of drug i.e antidepressant drug, due to aging, saliva in the mouth may reduce. Saliva acts as a washing mechanism in mouth, it also rematerializes teeth due to acidic food intake, when saliva flow is reduced it may cause multiple caries and root caries. Keeping proper hydration, use of artificial saliva and regular professional cleaning with dentist & whenever required getting the filing done to avoid further damage.
Loss of Teeth:
Loss of teeth leads to difficulty in chewing. Loss of teeth leads to loss of bone and change is look. Choosing correct artificial tooth options helps you enjoy this stage of life & look better.
As the age advances gum space between teeth opens due to gum recession. This needs special cleaning aid apart from regular brushing that is inter dental brush, use of super floss.
Having dental check-up and treatment before going abroad will a go long way? Book your dental treatment appointment today with the best dental clinic in Vadodara (Around 100 Km from Ahmedabad), Gujarat.
Conclusion:
Awareness about change in your teeth, gums, mouth, and jaw makes it easy to accept change & deal with it in a better way.
About two decades of passionate dental practice experience, feedback from many senior patients, older adults and association with senior citizen association inspired me to write this article hope it will be useful to all silver citizens. Do let me know your feedback. Aura dental is proactively happy to help seniors do take help of our online resources.
Contect Dr. Kuntal Soni at Aura Dental Care – Best dental clinic in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
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