Author:
Peter Berry
Date Of Creation:
11 February 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
As you get older, it becomes more important to continue to take proper care of your teeth. Proper dental care includes seeing your teeth and practicing good oral hygiene at home. In addition, you need to adjust your dental care habits and keep your teeth clean as you get older to maintain effective and age-appropriate dental health. In general, maintaining dental health in the elderly requires meticulous care and is willing to change habits if it suits the needs.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Adjust your dental care as you get older
Buy a new toothbrush. As you get older, brushing your teeth like before can become difficult or inappropriate. You should use a soft bristle brush as you get older. Also, if you have arthritis, it will be difficult to brush your teeth with a regular brush. In this case, you can either use a long-handled toothbrush or invest in an electric toothbrush.
- A soft bristled toothbrush can protect aging gums and enamel.
- A long-handle toothbrush will help keep your hands low while brushing your teeth.
- An electric toothbrush helps you use less pressure while brushing and still brushing your teeth clean.
Don't let your mouth dry. The risk of dry mouth increases as you get older. This is due to a change in the mouth or a dry mouth medicine. Dry mouth can affect tooth health because saliva protects teeth from cavities and keeps teeth clean.- To reduce dry mouth, drink more water and keep it in your mouth for a few seconds while you drink.
- Alternatively, you can suck on sugar-free candies or lozenges, or chew sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production in the mouth.
Talk to your dentist about any medical problems you have. If you get sick as you age, you need to let your dentist know because it can affect your dental care habits. Diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer can have a major impact on the health of the mouth and these effects need to be addressed by a dentist.
Tell your doctor about any medications you are taking. As you age, you often need to take a lot of medications. Certain medications can affect teeth and oral health. Tell your dentist about all the medications you are taking for your dentist to consider when caring for your teeth.- For example, blood thinners, such as aspirin and Warfarin, can cause heavy bleeding in your mouth when your dentist takes care of your teeth.
Consider seeing a dentist specializing in aged care. There are a number of dentists that specialize in oral health care for the elderly. They can offer a professional care plan tailored to the specific needs of an elderly person.
- Dentists who specialize in dental care for older adults (called geriatric dentistry) can be found through the specialist dental association website or with a referral from a dentist.
Method 2 of 3: Proper dental care
Oral hygiene every 6 months. Regular oral hygiene as you age is very important. This step not only keeps teeth healthy and beautiful, but also helps the dentist detect problems (if any) before they become too serious.
- As you age, the nerves in your teeth become less sensitive. This means you cannot feel when a problem arises. That's why it's so important to have regular dental check-ups as you age.
See your dentist if you have dental problems. If you think you have a dental problem, you should see your doctor as soon as possible. Even if you fear the potential pain of seeing the dentist or your finances are worrying about the cost of the dental exam, you should still see it.
- Small dental problems are less expensive in the long run than dealing with serious dental problems. On the other hand, there are a number of cost-saving options that you can adopt, such as partial payments or using insurance.
- Toothache can also affect your ability to eat and drink. If you have a toothache and cannot eat, you need to get treated right away.
Discuss ways to protect your teeth. Talk to your dentist about ways to help protect your teeth from wear and tear. Two popular treatments are to apply Fluoride Varnish and seal the groove.
- Varnish fluoride is the process in which a strong fluoride is applied to the teeth. This flour layer helps strong enamel and less tooth decay. Flouride Varnish can be applied every 6 months.
- A groove seal is a plastic or hard plastic coating that is filled into the gaps of the teeth. This coating protects teeth from bacteria and food that can get stuck in between the teeth. The coating can last up to 10 years.
Method 3 of 3: Practice proper oral hygiene
Brush your teeth 2 times a day. As you age, it is important to maintain good oral hygiene habits. A core part of a good oral hygiene routine is brushing your teeth twice a day. This step helps to remove food particles and bacteria that cause tooth decay.
- Tooth sensitivity may increase as you age. Tooth sensitivity can be reduced by using a soft toothbrush and a desensitizing toothpaste.
Brush your teeth with floss daily. Besides brushing your teeth, you need to clean between the teeth and the brush will not be able to do this job effectively. Instead, floss or floss brushing equipment.
- If you don't floss your teeth, plaque, food, and bacteria can build up between the teeth.
- Be careful when flossing between the gum lines to avoid damaging the gums, especially if you are taking medication that causes bleeding easily.
Make sure you get enough flour. Adding enough flour as you get older is important because flour protects teeth from wear and tear during use. For the elderly, it is important to protect sensitive tooth surfaces under the gum line because the gums often wear away as you age.
- You can add flour from toothpaste containing flour, mouthwash containing flour or fluoridated water sold in popular stores and supermarkets.
Clean dentures. If you have full or partial dentures, it's also important to clean your dentures. Remove dentures at night, clean them thoroughly, soak and rinse them before putting them back in your mouth.
- When you are fitted with dentures, you will be taught how to properly clean your dentures. The cleaning routine usually involves an overnight soak and scrubbing with denture cleaning water.
- You should also clean the inside of your mouth after removing your dentures. Be sure to scrub your gums, tongue, and palate.
Avoid smoking. Smoking can cause serious tooth damage over time. If you smoke, you are at higher risk of gum disease, tooth decay, and tooth loss among many other health problems.
- Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation programs available to you. It is never too late to quit.
Be gentle with your teeth. To keep your teeth healthy for the long term, avoid chewing or biting hard foods, such as ice cubes. Chewing hard foods can break or crack your teeth, create damage to your teeth and require rehabilitation by your dentist.
- If you crack your teeth, see your dentist immediately. Cracked enamel makes teeth more susceptible to decay. Your dentist can help protect any cracked teeth and repair them.
Avoid drinks that are harmful to teeth. Sparkling or acidic beverages, such as soda or fruit juice, can erode tooth enamel. In addition, drinking alcohol is also harmful to teeth. If you are concerned about the health of your teeth, you should avoid these drinks if possible.
- If you really want to drink drinks that are potentially harmful to your teeth, drink them with a straw. This helps prevent the drink from coming into contact with your front teeth, thereby minimizing damage to the teeth.
