Informing the debate on oral health care for older people: a qualitative study of older people’s views on oral health and oral health care

Abstract

The oral health life-course of older people is an important influence on their perceptions of oral health and dental attendance. They consider oral health of importance and place great emphasis on their citizenship and rights of access to state funded oral health care. This raises important issues for the funding and delivery of NHS oral health care for older people.

The emerging dental workforce: long-term career expectations and influences. A quantitative study of final year dental students' views on their long-term career from one London Dental School

“…Given patterns of oral health and our ageing population, much dental care is increasingly routine and the majority of complex needs will be in middle aged and older people who have clear expectations of dental professionals and NHS dental care [28,29]. They are increasingly likely to seek, and require, complex restorative care; however, as they progress through old-age and become increasingly vulnerable, simpler clinical measures may be more appropriate, but their medical management may be more complex [30].…”

Barreras y facilitadores de acceso a los servicios de salud bucal para la población adulta mayor atendida en la red pública hospitalaria de Medellín, Colombia

“…Los factores culturales desempeñan un papel como determinantes de acceso a los servicios de salud, en cuanto a que aumenta el valor y/o la importancia que se le da al componente bucal del proceso salud-enfermedad en la vejez, y esto en cierta medida determina el perfil de utilización de los servicios y la adherencia y continuidad de los procesos de atención odontológica (28). En esta investigación se destaca cómo los profesionales, si bien no han sido capacitados en geriatría y gerontología, reconocen una alta competencia cultural, técnica y social para dar respuesta a las necesidades en salud bucal de esta población.…”

NHS dental service utilisation and social deprivation in older adults in North West England

“…• Dental caries (root and coronal) is still the leading cause of tooth loss in older adults and studies have confirmed that older adults are a caries-active population, similar to that of younger age groups [24][25][26] with around one new carious lesion per year • With increasing natural tooth retention there is a need for a more strategically preventative long-term approach to combat the difficulties, faced by both the practitioner and patient, in the management of the failing dentition, 27 in particular of the 'heavy metal generation' 28 • A potential burden to dental services is developing due to a combination of an ageing population, increased risk of dental disease and limited evidence-based guidelines -all of which are further complicated by increased patient expectations 29 • Predicting the future for oral health in the ageing population has been well described, 20,27 however, to plan NHS dental services for this cohort, it is prudent to consider the potentially varying needs of the distinct age groups that form the ageing population • Since there is a well-established link between poor oral health and socioeconomic deprivation 30 more information is needed on the impact of these dental health inequalities in older adults. Traditional measures of deprivation, for example based on postcode, may not apply to older adults who may live in affluent areas but are on low incomes due to loss of earning and reliance on pension schemes.…”