One very important thing to keep in mind when putting the elders in a long term care facility is the oral health.
Most of the people who send their parents in such facilities forget to think about the importance of proper dental care for their elderly parents.
What happens if the seniors will not be able to take care of their oral health themselves, because they cannot brush their teeth, or because they forget to do so?
This in turn might bring about other health complications, because as you may already know proper dental health care is a very important part of our general health.
If the teeth and the gums are healthy, that will greatly help keep a good general health.
Many families considering the long term facilities for their elder ones in the family, simply do not think of making sure that at the facility proper oral health care is being provided as well.
But this is something that the majority of dentists do consider as being very important. Here are a few statistics that give a better picture about the condition of oral heath in the elderly:
- Older people are highly exposed to tooth decay
- Approximately 23% of the elder Americans (between 65 and 74 years of age) have to put up with serious periodontal disease.
- Most of the seniors 75 and older are part of the group of people who have not visited a dentist in the last 12 months.
These are all quite concerning data, which have been brought to light by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The promotion of the improvement of oral health for seniors is a highly important issue that is being supported by organizations such as the WHO, the Federation Dentaire International or the International Association for Research.
More attention for proper oral healthcare of the elderly is needed, more prevention and of course implementation of certain rules and regulations especially when they have to live under assisted living conditions.