Try: Proper dental care is important at all ages but some seniors have medical conditions that can affect their oral health these include heart disease liver disease eating disorders anemia diabetes osteoporosis arthritis hiv common dental problems in seniors gum disease gum disease is more common among seniors diabetes may reduce the senior senior’s ability to fight the bacteria that gets trapped around the teeth the gums may become inflamed and teeth become loose dentures many older people wear dentures dentures that do not fit correctly can cause pain and lead to loss of appetite loss of appetite will lead to poor nutrition and illness dentures need to be refitted regularly because the jaw reshapes itself continually when the teeth are not there to hold the jaw in place oral cancer oral cancer is most common among seniors early detection is important to increase a person’s chances of surviving the disease dry mouth some seniors take prescription drugs many of these drugs cause dry mouth dry mouth leads to less saliva in the mouth saliva keeps the bacteria from building up and causing tooth decay it’s important to drink plenty of water information references adapted from donna theobald 2011 "geriatric dental care " available at
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Categories: Sage, Topic, Maintenance, Medical Physical
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Keywords: Teeth dental care gum disease dentures oral cancer dry mouth
*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed