Older people’s oral health is focus of new report
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- Published: Wednesday, 16 August 2017 07:34
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The Faculty of Dental Surgery says, in a new report, that at least 1.8 million people aged 65 and over may have their life blighted by an urgent dental condition and this could rise by more than 50% by 2040. Concerns have been raised about the effect that conditions such as toothache and oral sepsis are having on older people’s quality of life.
Michael Escudier, Dean of the FDS, said that poor oral health in the elderly was linked to malnutrition and pneumonia, adding: “We are letting them down when they need the most help by not having a joined-up strategy to improve access to dental services.” In the report the faculty calls for health and social care professionals to receive training in oral health, and for regulators to make standards of oral care part of their assessments of hospitals and care homes.
The BDA has also responded to the new report. It has long advocated a joined-up strategy for care for the over-65s. In 2003 it outlined 21 recommendations to improve the oral healthcare of older adults, but to date only seven of these have been met in full.
BDA Chair Mick Armstrong said: “Senior citizens, whether they are resident in care homes, or living at home independently or with support, all face significant barriers to accessing quality dental care. The complex and diverse needs of a growing group of vulnerable patients are going unmet. We urgently require a strategy that ensures oral health for the over-65s is no longer treated as an optional extra.”
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