Oral Healthcare for Seniors

Just because you are over 60 does not mean that you have to lose your teeth. With proper oral healthcare in old age, you can keep them throughout your life. Keeping your own teeth is also correlated with better mental and physical health over all. Here are a few secrets to start you off on the right foot.

Keeping teeth with proper oral healthcare 

• If some or more of your teeth are loose or missing, you need to start thinking about how to prevent this from becoming a chronic condition.
• If your teeth are mobile, you need to find out why, and fix this situation as much as possible.
• If teeth around a missing tooth are getting loose, it is because the alveolus is starting to deteriorate as there are no tooth roots in it, so it starts to be absorbed by the body. The easiest thing to do is to get a dental implant, ad this artificial tooth root will keep your alveolus healthy and keep the teeth next to the missing one in place, and will not let them get loose and fall out. Usually, this procedure requires a bone graft, which can make the healing time quite long.
• If the teeth are mobile because the jawbone is compromised, you first and foremost need to deal with that. This may require you to take drugs that strengthen your bones, or you may need to look into getting a bone graft or a gum graft.

The best way to oral health for seniors: check-ups

As you age and the condition of your bones gets worse, you will be forced to go to doctors more often. Keeping your half-year check-ups with your dentist is going to be the most important thing, as this is when any problems can be checked and nipped in the bud. Prevention is always safer, easier and cheaper than complicated surgical interventions, and the human body is less and less able to deal with invasive surgeries as it ages. This is why these appointments must be kept.

During these appointments, a deep cleaning session also takes place, which is pivotal in helping your teeth remain healthy and your gums clean. The dentist will remove all plaque and food detritus that may be stuck to or between the teeth.

Caring for prostheses to maintain your oral health status

Prosthetic teeth, dentures, bridges and crowns also need care, just like regular living teeth. Although they will obviously not decay or fracture, bacteria can easily live on them and contaminate your gums and tongue, which is bad enough, and they can still be the cause of periodontitis. If there is a tooth sub underneath the crown, caring for it becomes even more important. Make sure you brush and floss your fake teeth as well as your real ones, to ensure a healthy oral environment.