Is your Grandma complaining of bad teeth? Bring her to Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental and let us rejuvenate her smile!
As people age, their body and the immune system weaken. They become an easy prey to a plethora of physical, mental and dental health problems. Tooth loss is prevalent in people over the age of 60. However, missing teeth or a poor oral health can lead to several other problems.
Oftentimes, your grandparents not even remember your names, so they cannot be blamed for forgetting to brush their teeth. This is why Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental focuses on dental awareness and encourages people above 50 to take extra care of their oral and overall health. With an increase in age, it is common to experience several dental problems. Hence older people need dental care more frequently.
Geriatric dentistry at Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental deals with all kinds of age related problems, rejuvenating your smile to make you look and feel years younger!
Who is considered a geriatric patient?
If anyone calls me old at 50, I would not be so happy about it. Well, I would not be happy to get old even at 80. However, after a certain age group, I would fall into the category of old or geriatric patients who require medical or dental assistance.
People who are 65 or above are considered old in dentistry. Geriatric dentistry requires experts to deal with elderly in a calm and composed manner, because elderly can often be a handful. They can be forgetful, demanding, angry, and may not cooperate with the dental procedures. However, at Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental our staff is well trained to tackle such patients with care. As they too need the best dental care.
Geriatric disorders- what are they?
Dental disorders related to old age can severely compromise the health and living standards of the patients. No teeth means no proper eating or talking. Old age dental problems may not require emergency dental acre but they do require timely dental treatments. At Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental, we counsel our geriatric patients visit the dental clinic regularly and the necessary dental care.
Oftentimes dental geriatric disorders are a consequence of medical problems like dementia, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac issues. As they, can all lead to an increase number of dental issues. With memory loss and deteriorating health, geriatric patients practice optimum oral hygiene habits.
Geriatric disorders related to the dental health can be:
- Tooth loss due to aging, trauma or dental problems
- Severe gum disease
- Tooth decay
- Discolored or darken teeth (our teeth darken with age)
- Weak or porous teeth
- Resolved or recessed jawbone
- Dry mouth
- Oral cancer
Treatment options for geriatric patients:
Even though dealing with patients politely should be a part of every dental practice, but when it comes to kids or old people, you have to be extra gentle, patient and understanding. It may take a lot of time to deal with them and reach a definitive diagnosis.
Here are some fail proof tips and tricks that Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental follows at Mill Mountain By Opulent Dental to improve patient compliance:
- Converse with them and get their attention
- Make them feel welcomed and comfortable
- Explain the procedure in detail to them, educate them about their dental health requirements
- Listen to what they have to say
- Be polite to their queries and respect their opinions
- Proceed slowly with them
- Maintain eye contact with them
- Do not use complicated terms
- Speak slowly yet in a loud voice so they can clearly understand your instructions
- Appoint the old patients early in the day when there is less crowd and noise in the dental clinic
- Do not keep the instrument out of the patient’s sight
- Use painkillers, anesthesia or sedation when needed
Cooperative patients ease the process of examination, diagnosis and hence the treatment. Therefore, the key to a successful dental procedure is to treat their fears and concerns first. Just as we do at our dental clinic in Roanoke.