scholarly journals Geriatric oral health concerns, a dental public health narrative

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 883
Author(s):  
Ramprasad Vasthare ◽  
Anil V. Ankola ◽  
Arron Lim Yan Ran ◽  
Prateek Mansingh
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Dental Public Health ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Treatment Services

Across the world, the segment of the elderly in populations is seen to be increasing at a rapid rate. There also exists a trend in which more teeth are retained as age increases due to effective dental public health measures like fluoridation. This inevitably places an increased need for dental healthcare among the geriatric populations. Since oral health greatly affects the systemic health of aged individuals, it is imperative for dentists and physicians to work together as a team to impart treatment to the best of one’s abilities for geriatric patients. It is therefore, necessary to first assess the oral health concerns surrounding the geriatric population from the perspective of public health dentistry. Relationship of the elderly with periodontal disease, dental caries, salivary hyposalivation and xerostomia, cognitive changes, and simultaneous usage of diverse medications was discussed. This paper reviewed the literature and then examined and discussed the various problems mentioned in depth and suggested recommendations for a plan of action. Knowledge about the specific oral health concerns and issues will help to better position us in developing strategies for providing better oral healthcare to the geriatric population in addition to the existing systemic healthcare. In the future, the elderly will make up a huge portion of the demographic visiting dentist regularly for a myriad of oral health problems. Dental health professionals therefore, must have adequate training and competency to deal with the predicament of this geriatric population. Preventive and treatment services can ensure healthy aging which will improve the quality of life.

Advances in Dental Public Health

2001 ◽  
Vol os8 (3) ◽  
pp. 99-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth D Holt
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Dental Public Health ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Oral Health Promotion ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
Dental Practitioners ◽  
Health Action

Dental public health has been defined as ‘the science and art of preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health and improving the quality of life through the organised efforts of society’.1 Dental practitioners most often have the oral health of individual patients as their primary focus but the aim of public health is to benefit populations.2 Early developments in dental public health were concerned largely with demonstrating levels of disease and with treatment services. With greater appreciation of the nature of oral health and disease, and of their determinants has come recognition of the need for wider public health action if the effects of prevention and oral health promotion are to be maximised.

scholarly journals Oral health for healthy aging

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shyh Poh Teo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Oral Disease ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Oral Diseases ◽  
Primary Care Settings

During the 74th World Health Assembly, a resolution was passed aiming to achieve better oral health as part of universal health coverage, with plans to draft a global strategy and action plan. Oral diseases are a significant problem globally, with implications for older people’s health and quality of life. Oral health is important for healthy aging. Integration of oral health into primary care settings and use of a life-course approach have been shown to be effective in the 8020 campaign in Japan. Accurate data on prevalence of oral disease is required to monitor effectiveness of public health approaches, which should be segregated based on setting, sociodemographic status, and comorbidities. These public health approaches should also be adapted and tailored for implementation during the current COVID-19 pandemic. These considerations are essential to progress the agenda of oral health for healthy aging.

scholarly journals Oral Health and Related Quality of Life in Older People: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saber Azami-Aghdash ◽  
Fatemeh Pournaghi-Azar ◽  
Ahmad Moosavi ◽  
Mohammad Mohseni ◽  
Naser Derakhshani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Additive Method ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

Background: Of the most important implications and complaints in the elderly group of the population, is oral and dental health problems. This study aimed to assess oral health- related quality of life in older people. Methods: To data collection, databases were searched including PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, SID, MagIran, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and scholar google The keywords were “older adults", “Geriatric” Elderly", "Older", “Aged”, "Ageing", "Oral health", "Oral hygiene" and "Quality of life", "QOL. For manual searching, several specialized journals of related scope as well as the finalized articles' reference list were searched. Studies from 1st Jan 2000 to 30th Jan 2017 were included. Studies were subjected to meta-analysis to calculate indexes, using CMA:2 (Comprehensive Meta-Analysis) software. Results: Totally, 3707 articles were searched that 48 of them were subjected to the oral and dental health-related quality of life in 59 groups of the elderly population with the mean age of 73.57+6.62 in the 26 countries. The obtained percentage values of dental and oral health were 80.2% (0-60), 14.8% (0-12), 16.4% (0-70), 22% (0-14 or 0-59) and 19.2% (0-196) for GOHAI with the additive method, GOHAI with Simple Count Method, OHIP14 with the additive method, OHIP-14 with Simple Count method and OHIP-49 with additive method indexes, respectively. Conclusion: The elderly group of the population had no proper oral health-related quality of life. Regarding the importance and necessity of oral and dental health and its effect on general health care in the target group, it is recommended to improve dental hygiene in the mentioned group of population.

Cognition in Ageing

2018 ◽  
pp. 118-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susmita Halder ◽  
Akash Kumar Mahato
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Daily Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
Medical Issues ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Growing Age ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Brain

This chapter focuses on cognitive functions and impairment in the elderly; its implications in daily functioning with inputs on differences in the existing literature. The chapter further focuses on the diagnostic and assessment issues and intervention strategies. Ageing is an inevitable phase of life and encompasses changes in physical, psychological and social realms of an individual. Concern with the dwindling health and presence of any medical issues make the geriatric population prone to develop mental health conditions. Poor memory and reduced functional ability is one of the common complaints from older adults coming to psychiatric or neurology clinics. Cognitive functions have been well documented regarding their role in daily functioning of an individual. With growing age of the brain; while some cognitive functions do slow down; some of the functions do evolve better with experience. In this context, it is important to differentiate between normal age related cognitive changes and symptoms of any degenerative disease.

Geriatric Dentistry and Prevention: Research and Public Policy (Reaction Paper)

1991 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Meyerowitz
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
Systemic Disease ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Oral Disease ◽  
Geriatric Dentistry

The population of older adults is heterogeneous and can be divided into many subgroups: the young-old, the old-old, the healthy, the sick, the frail, the mentally and physically handicapped, the ambulatory, the chair-bound, house-bound or institution-bound, and the economically advantaged and disadvantaged. This diversity is extremely important to the discussion of the oral health needs, preventive health strategies, and research agenda for the elderly. As life expectancy increases, more attention is being paid to disease prevention so that the quality of life in old age can be improved. However, the link among oral health, systemic disease, and quality of life in the elderly needs to be better-defined. There is some evidence in the literature that indicates that coronal and root caries appear to be major health problems for the elderly. This needs to be corroborated in longitudinal studies. Although periodontal disease prevalence and severity are high in some subgroups of the elderly, these appear to be in decline in the general population. Dental health-care workers must be cognizant of the oral conditions associated with systemic disease and the use of medication, a major concern in older adults. Prevention of oral disease in the elderly requires early intervention, education of the dental health team, and innovative uses of well-established preventive agents such as fluoride. An extensive research effort is needed to answer basic and applied questions regarding the oral health needs of the elderly. Federal and private funding will be necessary. The dental profession will have to demonstrate and be persuasive that money spent on research and care for the elderly is money well spent.

scholarly journals The Joint ORCA-EADPH Symposium on Sugar: The Oral Health Perspective – A Commentary

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas G. Schulte ◽  
Georgios Tsakos
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Dental Public Health ◽  
Who Guidelines ◽  
Sugar Consumption ◽  
Fissure Sealants ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Dental Practitioners ◽  
High Level

Caries is the most prevalent chronic condition worldwide and the association between high-level intake of sugars and dental decay is strong and well established. Interestingly, to combat caries, dental practitioners and public health dentists in many countries have focused mainly on the application of different kinds of fluorides and fissure sealants but not on the reduction of sugar intake. Furthermore, for many years, sugars have not been the focus of dental research activities presented at the annual conferences of the European Organisation for Caries Research (ORCA) and the European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH). In 2015, following the publication of the new WHO guidelines on the intake of sugars, the boards of ORCA and EADPH agreed to organize a common symposium entitled “Joint ORCA-ADPH Symposium on Sugar: The Oral Health Perspective”. This symposium was organized by a scientific committee and took place on July 6, 2016, in association with the 63rd ORCA Congress in Athens, Greece. It included 9 lectures highlighting different aspects of sugar consumption, contribution of sugar to dental caries, measuring sugar consumption, and fighting against sugar on a patient and public health basis. The purpose of this commentary is to give background information about the rationale of the above-mentioned symposium.

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