TY - JOUR
T1 - Managing an ageing population: challenging oral epidemiology
AU - McKenna, Gerry
AU - Tsakos, Georgios
AU - Burke, Francis
AU - Brocklehurst, Paul
PY - 2020/9/17
Y1 - 2020/9/17
N2 - Global population projections indicate that the proportion of older people is increasing and will continue to do for the foreseeable future. Many countries are already experiencing the challenges of managing an ageing population including increased pension contributions from workers, rises to national retirement ages, and spiralling healthcare costs. In oral health terms, in addition to simply an ageing population, epidemiological studies have demonstrated significant changes in the oral health of older adults in recent years. As the numbers of edentulous older adults has declined there has been a significant increase in the number of partially dentate elderly. Changing attitudes, improved access to dental care and more effective preventative programmes have meant that large numbers of patients are now retaining natural teeth into old age. However, as older patients retain natural teeth for longer the dental profession is charged with controlling chronic dental diseases in an increasingly challenging oral environment.
AB - Global population projections indicate that the proportion of older people is increasing and will continue to do for the foreseeable future. Many countries are already experiencing the challenges of managing an ageing population including increased pension contributions from workers, rises to national retirement ages, and spiralling healthcare costs. In oral health terms, in addition to simply an ageing population, epidemiological studies have demonstrated significant changes in the oral health of older adults in recent years. As the numbers of edentulous older adults has declined there has been a significant increase in the number of partially dentate elderly. Changing attitudes, improved access to dental care and more effective preventative programmes have meant that large numbers of patients are now retaining natural teeth into old age. However, as older patients retain natural teeth for longer the dental profession is charged with controlling chronic dental diseases in an increasingly challenging oral environment.
U2 - 10.1177/2050168420943063
DO - 10.1177/2050168420943063
M3 - Article
VL - 9
SP - 14
EP - 17
JO - Primary Dental Care : Journal of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK)
JF - Primary Dental Care : Journal of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK)
SN - 1355-7610
IS - 3
ER -