Mature Patients

The loss of teeth in old age forms a part of folklore which has long gone unchallenged. It is not inevitable so what can be done to avoid this final indignity?.

It is sometimes said that people do not need to look after their own teeth because dentures are apparently so good these days and will look better than discoloured teeth.

Would that this were true. Certainly many patients cope very well with full dentures, but there are many for whom the possession of dentures is a nightmare for the remainder of life. It is difficult to predict just who will be a good denture wearer and so the best advice I can give is to retain your natural teeth as long as possible. In any case dentures are not real teeth and do not allow their users to chew their food in the same way that they could with their original teeth,  you can put just 15% of the pressure on false teeth before they lose the suction that keeps the top one in your mouth. The lower ones have no suction at all and they just sit there by virtue of their own weight.

The other problem with dentures is that once the natural teeth are removed, the face begins to age rapidly. Dentures accelerate the aging process of your face because the distance between your nose and your chin begins to decrease as soon as the natural teeth are extracted.

Similarly, if you have a partial denture retained by some of your own teeth, keep those teeth, however few, for as long as possible.

Should I do anything different from in the past?
The first priority of treatment is prevention. Plaque control is essential to cut down on gum disease and dental decay which in the older patient with reduced natural resistance can be particularly severe.

It is therefore particularly important to maintain a regime of regular scaling and polishing in the surgery and to supplement this with conscientious home care. I can suggest the best means of cleaning and possibly the use of specific mouthwashes.

If all fails, what about these implants I keep hearing about? Implants provide a very useful means of replacing teeth and in many cases mean the difference be­tween dental comfort and total misery. They have to be combined with either removable dentures or fixed bridgework. Be warned, however, that the treatment is both time consuming and expensive.

Most people in later life, certainly above the age of 60, would seem to be taking some form of medication, for blood pressure, arthritis, etc. An unfortunate side effect of many drugs is to affect the teeth and gums adversely and cause, or accentuate, dental disease. But, as the photograph above shows, you can maintain healthy teeth for many years if you apply proper dental hygiene practices on a daily basis. An electric toothbrush is now an essential add to good dental health, not just a gadget.