TY - JOUR

T1 - Managing an ageing population: challenging oral epidemiology

AU - McKenna, Gerald

AU - Tsakos, George

AU - Burke, Francis

AU - Brocklehurst, Paul

N1 - permission from publisher to add PP to repository ( see comments)

PY - 2020/9/17

Y1 - 2020/9/17

N2 - Global population projections indicate that the proportion of older people isincreasing and will continue to do so 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 isincreasing and will continue to do so 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.

KW - Ageing

KW - Older patients

KW - Epidemiology

KW - population

KW - oral health

KW - Chronic Disease

U2 - 10.1177/2050168420943063

DO - 10.1177/2050168420943063

M3 - Article

VL - 9

SP - 14

EP - 17

JO - Primary Dental Journal

JF - Primary Dental Journal

SN - 1355-7610

IS - 3

ER -