The Necessity of Determining the Oral Health Status of Geriatric Patients Worldwide and the Main Challenges for Future Dentists

Abstract

Background: Over the past decades, the growing number of the population 65 years and above in the world and in Georgia, and their health status, including the prevalence of dental diseases, necessitates the data tracking of elderly patients, assessment of their health status, and development of prevention and problem-solving methods at various institutional levels.

Aim: The aim of this article is to highlight the significance of the problem, recommend to study the oral health status of elderly patients living in Georgia in order to determine specific characteristics, as is done in many countries around the world, to develop healthcare schemes aimed at retraining doctors, the population awareness rising, and establishing gerontodontics as a separate dental specialty. Demographic studies show that gerontodontics will be one of the leading and most actual directions in future dentistry.

Methods:  More than 45 international sociological studies and articles on this topic were analyzed, and information on the dental status of the population with respect to 65+ age group was summarized.

Results: General world data analysis show that the dental status of the elderly needs specific management, which is relatively important for Georgia as well. A holistic approach to monitor, evaluate and improve the quality of oral health of elderly patients is having a significance, since elderly patients represent one of the vulnerable groups of the society.

Conclusions: Despite the achievements globally in the field of oral health, dental diseases in the elderly, such as: xerostomia, multiple secondary caries, severe periodontitis, and edentulism remain relevant and acute problems. Therefore, effective management of oral health is important, with due regard of age specificities.