{"id":271,"date":"2018-03-03T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/?p=271"},"modified":"2018-04-03T20:34:31","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T20:34:31","slug":"oral-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/03\/oral-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How Aging Effects Oral Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-272\" src=\"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/AdobeStock_184531142-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"Senior woman pointing to healthy smile\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/AdobeStock_184531142-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/AdobeStock_184531142-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/AdobeStock_184531142-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/AdobeStock_184531142.jpeg 1840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>At different ages, we all need specific healthcare. Senior patients have a different set of needs than kids or younger adults. Many patients don\u2019t know that they need to change the way they take care of their smiles as they age, but a good dentist should partner with you to maintain good in-office and at-home dental care routines to ensure you keep a healthy, beautiful smile for a lifetime. In this post, we\u2019ll discuss the effects of aging on your oral health and how you and your dentist can work together to improve the lifetime health of your smile during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/preventive-general-dentistry.html\">dental checkups<\/a> and by optimizing at-home oral hygiene routines.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>Common Oral Health Issues for Seniors<\/h2>\n<p>There are many ways that oral health changes as we age. Some of the most common oral health issues seniors struggle with include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dry mouth \u2013 taking more prescription medications coupled with reduced saliva production as we age can lead to dry mouth. This oral health issue may seem like nothing more than a nuisance, but actually, it can lead to numerous serious concerns, including tooth decay, gum disease, and excessive dental wear.<\/li>\n<li>Increased risk for gum disease \u2013 dry mouth and decreased immune function can both increase patients\u2019 risk to suffer from periodontal (gum) disease due to the greater levels of plaque production and diminished ability to neutralize plaque acidity.<\/li>\n<li>Tooth loss \u2013 older patients are more likely to lose teeth as years of dental wear and damage take their toll.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Gum Disease &amp; Aging<\/h2>\n<p>As we age, we\u2019re at greater risk for systemic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. What many patients don\u2019t know is that gum disease increases your risk for and the severity of your illness. Gum disease has been connected to numerous whole body health issues, and unless your periodontal health issues are treated at the same time as your whole body health concerns, you may not be adequately addressing either. A skilled dentist can help you understand how gum disease and other oral health issues can impact your whole body and help you to maintain complete health.<\/p>\n<h2>Maintaining Optimal Oral Health for Life<\/h2>\n<p>The key to keeping your smile healthy for life is to visit your dentist at least twice a year for dental checkups. These biannual appointments give your dental team the opportunity to screen for common warning signs of dental disease or damage and partner with you to prevent many oral health concerns before they begin. We can walk you through how best to care for your smile at home between office visits.<\/p>\n<h2>Meet Dr. Gaitsgory<\/h2>\n<p>Skilled preventive dentist, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/meet-dr-gaitsgory.html\">Marianna Gaitsgory, DMD<\/a>, and her team at Framingham Premier Dental offer personalized oral health care plans to ensure patients\u2019 smiles remain healthy at every age. For senior patients, that may mean changing oral hygiene products, visiting us more often, or partnering with your physician to maximize the efficacy of oral and overall health care plans. If you\u2019re ready to start your customized treatment plan at any age, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/contact-us.html\">call<\/a> our Framingham dentist and team today. We\u2019ll partner with you to create a plan that will ensure you keep a healthy, beautiful smile for life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At different ages, we all need specific healthcare. Senior patients have a different set of needs than kids or younger adults. Many patients don\u2019t know that they need to change the way they take care of their smiles as they age, but a good dentist should partner with you to maintain good in-office and at-home [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,41,12,10,47,5,6,4,19,58,26,25,24,37,7,56,57,15,27,22,8,54,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions\/273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.framinghampremierdental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}