Improving oral health for ageing populations

Millions of elderly people across the globe are not getting oral health care they need. Poor oral health amongst older people has been particularly evident in high levels of tooth loss, dental caries and the prevalence rates of other dental disease and oral cancer.

Many elderly people worldwide do not have a full set of teeth. Poor oral health negatively impact on the quality of life of older adults and is an important public health issue which must be addressed by policy-makers. Experts warned that failure to address oral health needs today could develop into a costly problem tomorrow.

Advancing age puts elderly at risk of a number of health problems. As the number of aging population increasing worldwide, it will be a big problem in near future. The burden of oral disease is likely to grow in many developing countries like Bangladesh because of unhealthy diets rich in sugars and high consumption of tobacco.

In many developing countries, the only treatment is tooth extraction in case of pain and problems with teeth. Thus, millions of older people suffer tooth loss. Eventually they live without natural teeth.

As with other health issues, older people have very different oral health needs to children and younger adults. They are more likely to take medication that causes dry mouth, leading to tooth decay and infections of the mouth. More than 400 commonly used medications — many of them for chronic conditions to which the elderly are susceptible — can dry out the mouth.

Oral cancer is another danger that can strike after years of over-consumption of tobacco and alcohol. The incidence of this cancer is rising in places with growing or high tobacco use. In many cases, ill-fitting dentures can reduce a person’s quality of life, for example by impeding their ability to chew.

An unfounded belief by families and healthcare practitioners that tooth loss is inevitable during ageing, lack of education on the importance of oral health and components of dental care, poor access to services and a low dentist-to-population ratio complete the picture.

The World Health Organisation recommends that countries adopt certain strategies for improving the oral health of the elderly. National health authorities should develop policies and measurable goals and targets for oral health. National public health programmes should incorporate oral health promotion and disease prevention based on the common risk factors approach.

Sources:

 World Health Organisation