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This is about controlling dental cavities for older adults.
It used to be that when people were reaching older ages, say sixty five or seventy,
cavities were hardly considered a problem because by that time people had lost most
or all of their teeth
Now, however, people are living well into their eighties and nineties with at least some of
their teeth remaining.
These teeth need good preventive care, just as is the case for children and young adults.
I’m going to make four recommendations for caring for teeth of older adults and keeping the
problem of dental caries at a minimum.
First, use of good quality toothbrush.
For older adults, consider one like this, which is electric-powered and is good
for people who may have some difficulties with
dexterity, such as people who've had some arthritis or a stroke.
Number two…
Use always a fluoride containing toothpaste. There are many brands, this is just an example
and brush each time for about two minutes. Do that twice a day.
Number three…
Clean between teeth.
Cleaning between teeth can be done as it has been traditionally with regular dental floss,
or more recently, we have a number of types of floss holders, such as this one.
That are easier to hold sometimes than regular floss.
or you can use also
Gum soft pics
And then finally,
older people use more medications than younger adults.
The medications used
can cause dry mouth.
If you have dry mouth, your dentist may suggest using a fluoride-containing rinse, such as
this one at bedtime, to give an additional
level of protection against cavities.
These recommendations should be helpful to people wanting to maintain their teeth in
good health well into old age.