Dental Care

A functional dentition—well-maintained and efficiently chewing teeth—is essential to good health and nutrition in the older adult. Demographic estimates indicate that by 2020, approximately 85 percent of adults over the age of sixty-five years will have retained some or all of their natural teeth (Douglass and Furino). By contrast, year 2020 projections suggest that nine million older adults will suffer from edentulism, the loss of all permanent teeth (Douglass and Furino). In general, individuals lose teeth as a result of trauma, tooth decay, or gum disease. The replacement of all permanent teeth is accomplished by the fabrication of complete dentures, prosthetic teeth that are fixed to plastic bases. The factors associated with tooth loss, the effect of total tooth loss, problems associated with complete dentures, and prevention of tooth loss are extremely relevant to the maintenance of good health and nutrition in the older adult.