With the ever growing senior population, dental care is more and more important. Medical advances in care and medications have us living longer but often at the price of your teeth. Many of the medications we take today for cardiac and neurologic issues, dry our mouth out. A dry mouth is a direct path to decay.
To start with, talk to your physician about the side effects of the medication you are prescribed. Make sure you tell your dentist what you are taking and update the office when they have changed. Next, it is often needed to add a medication to increase your saliva and prescription toothpaste to help combat decay.
Another factor that comes up with living longer is more broken teeth and worn down teeth. A simple fact is the longer you live, the more wear and tear you put on your teeth. Just like a car needs repair and maintenance, so do your teeth. More frequent hygiene appointments and often spending money on repairs is in the future for older patients.
The upside about living longer and healthier is advances in dental technology. Mainly dental implants have become routine in the specialty office. They are very successful and will possibly last your lifetime. Today they are titanium, but look for ceramic dental implants in the near future.
By Dr. Kevin B. Cebrynski
Dr. Cebrynski has been practicing both fixed and removable prosthodontics in Scottsdale for more than 19 years and has performed thousands of procedures to improve smiles. Cebrynski Rehabilitative Dentistry is a specialty dental practice located in Scottsdale.
