How Elderly Can Keep their Natural Teeth Healthy?
With the advancement of modern dentistry, increased awareness about oral care, and availability of better oral care products like toothpaste, toothbrushes, and inter-dental cleaners, a lot of older adults are focusing more on the health of their natural teeth. But you need to pay good care of your teeth to keep your teeth clean as you age.
Oral problems which come with aging
When you were younger, it is not important that some oral conditions might develop. Some of the conditions start developing as you grows older, such as –
- Attrition – Also known as common wear and tear, grinding and chewing with your teeth for several years can affect the ageing teeth. With the wear and tear of tooth enamel, there would be a great risk for developing cavities.
- Dry mouth – It can be caused due to physical changes that take place in the body with ages and medications are also the main reasons. More than 400 medications which are widely used can cause dry mouth, according to CDC. It also causes oral disease. Saliva helps enamel rebuild and kills bacteria.
- Root decay – Also comes with gum disease, roots of the teeth may get exposed with your gums and it can cause increased decay with aging.
- Other disease – It includes abnormal growth of fungus and oral cancer.
Tips to maintain oral health with aging
You can perform several things to take care of your oral health with aging –
- Use fluoride toothpaste – Using the fluoride rinse or fluoride toothpaste can help you remove plaque buildup on your mouth.
- Improve oral hydration – Ask for the alternatives if you are taking a medication which causes dry mouth. If there is no other option, drink a lot of water, avoid alcohol, and chew sugar free gum. Alcohol dehydrates your mouth and body.
- Switch to antibacterial mouthwash – After flossing and brushing, rinse your mouth with antibacterial mouthwash to reduce plaque buildup.
- Skip tobacco – In any form, tobacco increases risk of developing throat and mouth cancer, heart disease and several critical conditions. Chewing tobacco can also causes tooth decay as a lot of tobacco products have sugar.
With your age, you need to keep your teeth in best shape and it needs proper practices. You should also visit dental care professionals on regular basis. Your dentist can provide best oral care recommendations. So, be sure to go for regular dental checkups.