Canada’s population is rapidly aging, accompanied by a shifting landscape in oral healthcare needs. In 2021, individuals aged 65 and older accounted for 18.5% of the national population, and this figure is projected to increase sharply by 2068.1 This demographic trend presents both challenges and opportunities for the Canadian healthcare system, particularly in the field of … Read more
This essay will present important considerations for dealing with the senior patient, and the ways in which dental offices can be adapted to make them more welcoming, accessible, and responsive to the needs of this steadily increasing patient population.
The past two years have ushered in a quiet but consequential evolution in geriatric dentistry or gerodontology, one driven by demographic urgency and sharpened by cross-continental scholarship.
Geriatric dentistry, also referred to as gerodontics, gerontology, or gerodontology, focuses on providing dental care to older adults, including the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of various dental issues.
As populations around the world age at an unprecedented rate, it is the responsibility of the dental profession to recognize the importance of geriatric dentistry.
Over the next 20 years, Canada’s senior population is expected to grow by 68%, with the group aged 75 and older doubling to approximately 10.4 million.1 With advancements in dental care, more seniors are retaining their natural dentition into older age, many with complex work including crowns, bridges, implants, etc. For dentists, this demographic shift means … Read more
Following three years of planning and deliberation, the Toronto Chapter of the Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity has unveiled a project to build a geriatric dental clinic at the Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto. Seniors are the fastest growing patient population and highly vulnerable to oral disease. Many are physically and medically unable to access care. … Read more
July 23, 2010 By: Erin Archer, R.N. from DrBicuspid.com Elderly patients presenting for surgery may be harboring undetected oral infections that could lead to expensive and life-threatening complications, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (June 1, 2010). The entire medical team — including oral care providers — needs to be aware of these … Read more