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Aged care oral health in Australia

   

Added on  2021-04-17

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Running head: Aged care oral health in Australia 1 Aged Care Oral Health in AustraliaStudent’s nameInstitutional affiliation

Aged care oral health in Australia 2According to Lewis, et al (2015) the number of elderly people in the population of Australia has been on the increase. Significantly, problems of oral health and special needs dentistry hasproblems of oral health and special needs dentistry have been on the increase too. However, the overall oral health has improved in terms of comparison between dentate and edentulous old people whereby the dentate has a significant increase. The increase in the number of dentate elderly people has necessitated an increased concern in general oral health of the elderly. This paper focuses on the key issues for aged dental care, the role of clinical health workers in community health, prosthodontics management and pharmacological burden of the aging patient, special needs dentistry and dental public health in Australia. Stewart, & Wild, (2017) the main dental care challenges among the elderly in Australia range from edentulous individuals, periodontal disease, having a dry mouth which is also known as xerostomia, oral cancer and tooth wear. These has caused occasional oral health problems such as difficulties in chewing, avoidance of several foods, development of sores in the mouth and increased dryness. Avoidance of several foods may cause challenges of malnutrition or under nutrition which also makes it difficult for healing of the dental related problems. Teeth related problems also affects interpersonal relationships as elderly edentulous people have complained of challenges when communicating and stomatitis which refers to the inflammation of the oral mucosa that also heightens the difficulties. The prevalence and risk of infection of dental diseases among the elderly increase as theyage which rather insinuates that the condition is accumulative as opposed to susceptibility with age. Research has also proven that in overall health care data, the number of people whose teeth needs to be extracted due to dental diseases increases with age which also indicates that the problem increases with time. This can be proven by the fact that as people age, they have

Aged care oral health in Australia 3deteriorating efforts to maintain their teeth which requires more attention with ages due to wear and tear. Carelessness in handling teeth and continuous drug use such as alcohol and smoking has also increased susceptibility of teeth related infections. Prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and other chronic illnesses among the elderly also sums up to the difficulties that old people encounter in maintaining dental hygiene. Dental related problems have profound impacts in the health and lives of aging Australians. These challenges and difficulties in eating communication are more in the edentulous that in the dentate individuals. Oral ulcers and fractured femurs are also some of the impacts that result from poor dental care. These challenges impact in the overall health of the elderly especially as they become choose on foods due to dry mouths conditions and difficulties in chewing and swallowing of food. They may opt to consume more fibers and vegetables as opposed to proteins and fruits. Smylie, et al (2016) has confirmed that more elderly people have visited the private health facilities as opposed to government facilities. This has shifted the focus of the Australian government into focusing more on the service delivery in the private facilities and also increased knowledge on the various dental related problems and ways of handling the dental problems. Improving the quality of services in the government facilities is also being observed to see to it that more individuals are able to access care in the government facilities which are considerably cheaper as opposed to the private institutions. Pradhan & Gryst, (2016) aged Australians have shown preference to private institutions whatsoever due to the increased mobility of service delivery. It is possible and much easier for private institutions to deliver services to the people’s homes and work places as opposed to government health officers. This they have said helps them conserve more time they spend on

Aged care oral health in Australia 4appointments and checkups for other personal work. This has been more effective for people who have other difficulties in mobility due to being handicapped, bedridden or other difficulties in accessing health care services in public institutions. Some people have blamed poor weather and other obstructions to accessibility of public dental services as an explanation as to why they opt private health services that have increased mobility. Cost subsidy in public institutions have been efficient as more people with insurance cover are able to access these dental services without having to encounter a lot of cost. However dental care is still expensive for people with low social economic status. Lowering the cost in thepublic institutions has its disadvantages too in that too many people try to access it which ends up resulting in congestion in the health facilities. Congestion in the public health facilities is very unsuitable for the aged and worse when it is full of bureaucracy and chronic queues for patients wishing to access services if there are no specialized care centers specifically for the aged. For people with low socioeconomic status in the society, neglect of dental care services is evident even amidst cost subsidy. Visschere, et al (2015). confirms that on average, people with low social economic status attend the dental clinicsfor specific problems and not frequent checkups. However enough sensitization needs to be doneto make the people aware that dental health does not necessarily infer to lack of a disease but regular checkup is necessary to also prevent possible infections. Special dentistry Masoe, et al (2015) special needs dentistry also known as special care dentistry is a field that is generally concerned in delivery of dental care services to people living with special denta problems. The Australian society of special care dentistry has coupled efforts with government

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