Why Seniors Need A Dentist Specializing In Geriatric Dentistry
Offering nursing home dental care is very crucial in today’s societyin The United States of America. There is a rising demand for dental services for the elderly performed by dentists who are experienced in geriatric dentistry. To understand the importance of these professionals, here is what you need to know.
Geriatric dentistry
This is the delivery of dental services to the elderly, many of whom need a diagnosis, prevention, management and treatment of dental problems associated with age-related complications. Research suggests that more than half of dental patients over 60 years are on medication. Some of them are medically compromised. Older patients tend to show more sensitivity to medication used in oral care, including local anesthetics, analgesics, and they are more likely to experience dental conditions related to aging such as coronal and root caries, periodontitis and dry mouth.
Why is geriatric dentistry important?
There are numerous reasons why the elderly need specialized dental care services from dentists who have experience in working with elderly patients. These include the following.
Potential drug interactions
Seniors are more likely to take several prescription and over the counter medication that can make them vulnerable to drug interactions, drug reactions and medication errors. Dental professionals who specialize in dental care for the elderly understand this. They take precautions to protect the well-being and safety of older patients.
Understanding and compassion
It isn’t uncommon for seniors to have physical, sensory and cognitive impairments that complicate communication and dental treatment. Because they are familiar with such issues, geriatric dentists providing nursing home dental services take great care to reduce distractions and noises during treatment. A lot of geriatric dentists provide radio and television programming to give seniors something they can focus on. Geriatric dentists are careful to include trusted nurses and caregivers in the treatment process to enable them to provide reassurance and comfort to seniors. Since seniors with cognitive limitations are overwhelmed, geriatric-focused dental professionals are very careful to use simple and short sentences to relax the patients.
Patience
When it comes to dealing with seniors suffering from physical impairments, it is not always possible to complete treatment or a medical exam. Experienced geriatric dentists understand that even the greatest patience is not always enough. In turn, they can stop the treatment if necessary and pick up things later in the day or week. As long as the delay doesn’t compromise the health of the patient, it is very necessary.
Personalized services
Providing dental services to the older adults can be very complicated especially when there are no personalized services involved. Geriatric dentists have been trained to understand each patient and provide personalized services. They are trained to grasp the names of their patients and address them in a personalized way. This improves trust between the dentist and the patient making it easy for the patient to adhere to the instructions. When outsourcing nursing home dental services, nursing homes must choose a dentist who specializes in providing dental services to the elderly to improve the quality of the services.
