Oral health is essential to psychological well-being and overall oral health in older adults, according to a multi-institution team of researchers, who note that poor oral health is associated with decreased quality of life, depression, hypertension, and cognitive decline.
In a pair of studies, the researchers interviewed more than 2,700 Chinese Americans age 60 and older and found that nearly 50% of the subjects experienced tooth symptoms and 25.5% experienced dry mouth.
In the first study, subjects who reported tooth symptoms experienced declines in cognition and episodic memory, often precursors to dementia. In the second study, the researchers found that stress increased symptoms of dry mouth, leading to poorer overall oral health.
Minorities have less access to preventive dental care that is further exacerbated by language barriers and low socioeconomic status. Older Chinese Americans are at particular risk for experiencing oral health symptoms due to lack of dental insurance or not visiting a dental clinic regularly.
The increasing oral health disease burdens among older Chinese immigrants point to the need for investigations of psychosocial factors due to the current emphasis on physical diseases and health behaviors in oral health.
Efforts must be made to increase social support to alleviate stress and the resulting dry mouth issues reported by our study participants, These efforts can help preserve older adults’ health and well-being and limit cognitive decline.
This study proves once again that regular dental check-ups are very important for us. So you need to make regular appointments to a dental office which with the best dental equipments, and the dental equipments there are also well sterilized by dental autoclave sterilizer,to make sure the bacteria don’t get into your mouth.
Related article:What should you pay attention to when using dental ultrasonic scaler?
In a pair of studies, the researchers interviewed more than 2,700 Chinese Americans age 60 and older and found that nearly 50% of the subjects experienced tooth symptoms and 25.5% experienced dry mouth.
In the first study, subjects who reported tooth symptoms experienced declines in cognition and episodic memory, often precursors to dementia. In the second study, the researchers found that stress increased symptoms of dry mouth, leading to poorer overall oral health.
Minorities have less access to preventive dental care that is further exacerbated by language barriers and low socioeconomic status. Older Chinese Americans are at particular risk for experiencing oral health symptoms due to lack of dental insurance or not visiting a dental clinic regularly.
The increasing oral health disease burdens among older Chinese immigrants point to the need for investigations of psychosocial factors due to the current emphasis on physical diseases and health behaviors in oral health.
Efforts must be made to increase social support to alleviate stress and the resulting dry mouth issues reported by our study participants, These efforts can help preserve older adults’ health and well-being and limit cognitive decline.
This study proves once again that regular dental check-ups are very important for us. So you need to make regular appointments to a dental office which with the best dental equipments, and the dental equipments there are also well sterilized by dental autoclave sterilizer,to make sure the bacteria don’t get into your mouth.
Related article:What should you pay attention to when using dental ultrasonic scaler?
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