Healthy in the mouth on the day of dental health

Dental Health Day: More and more older people have healthy teeth

09/25/2012

Today is „Day of dental health“. The motto this year is „Healthy starts in the mouth - more pleasure with 65 plus“. Various events and lectures are dedicated to the dental health of elderly people.

The demographic change in Germany shows that the „Generation 65plus“ has never enjoyed better health in Germany than it is today. „Of course, this increase also has an impact on the disease in the population“, said Prof. Dr. med. Dietmar Oesterreich, Vice President of the Federal Dental Association, introducing this year's topic of the Day of Dental Health 2012 at the central press conference in Berlin.

Obviously, that also shows in the mouth. „The average oral health of over 65s has improved significantly in recent years. Thus, the number of total prosthesis wearers has fallen in recent years, while at the same time remain with the elderly longer and more and more own teeth“, reports the dentist Austria.

Tooth loss in old age can be avoided
„A denture today can fulfill important aesthetic and functional requirements“, said the scientific lecturer, Prof. dr. Ina Nitschke, President of the German Society of Gerontology, „and even a senile face, as it adjusts to tooth loss, is today avoidable. This is one of the many achievements of modern dentistry that would be envied to us by earlier generations.“

A special focus must therefore continue to be on the oral hygiene and regular checks at the dentist, so that it stays that way. Because the older people become, the more susceptible the teeth become to typical dental diseases. „Inflammation of the dental bed, the periodontal disease, therefore occur more frequently in the elderly and can lead to tooth loss. We also see a higher risk for special forms of caries, secondary and root caries“, explains Dr. Helmut Stein, Chief Executive Officer of the Kassenzahnärztlichen Vereinigung Rheinland-Pfalz. A consistent prophylaxis, which consists of continuous hygiene in the interdental spaces, as well as regular visits to the dentist, can counteract diseases in the mouth. The routine checkup should be done every six months without any complaints. Patients already wearing dentures should clean them every day. „This prevents bacterial deposits“, so the dentists.

Drink enough daily to activate the salivation
In addition to the daily dental cleaning and care, it is particularly important to drink regularly and adequately. Especially older people feel less thirsty with increasing age and are therefore threatened by an internal dehydration. A sufficient hydration is important to complaints such as „dry mouth“ to fix. Because in old age, not only the thirst but also the salivation. Both of these in combination have a detrimental effect on oral hygiene because saliva is responsible for the natural cleansing of teeth and the neutralization of harmful acids. In addition, saliva also repairs broken enamel. Each person should therefore take at least two to three liters of liquid. The best are still water and tea without sugar, so the experts.

Since 1991, every year on the 25th of September, the nationwide „Day of dental health“ carried out. Dentists and nutrition experts undertake numerous information events, events and seminars of the health insurance companies, state work communities, health authorities throughout Germany. Further information about the events can be found on the action website. (Sb)

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Picture: Heike