Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 20th: Health starts from the mouth and bid farewell to “old teeth” – National Tooth Love Day 2023 focuses on dental health for the elderly
Xinhua News Agency reporter
Oral health is an important part of general health. It not only affects physiological functions such as chewing and pronunciation, but is also closely related to stroke, heart disease, diabetes, digestive system diseases, etc.
September 20 is National Teeth Love Day. This year’s promotion theme is “Oral Health and Whole Body Health”, and the sub-theme is “Caring for the Elderly’s Oral and Enjoying a Healthy Life”. What is periodontal disease? What oral problems in the elderly deserve attention? The reporter interviewed industry insiders and experts.
Periodontal condition is a “barometer” of overall health
Periodontal disease is a disease that occurs in the tissues surrounding the teeth. It invades and destroys the supporting tissues of the periodons, causing irreversible damage to the tissues surrounding the teeth.
Qiao Min, head of the periodontal department of the Oral Medicine Center of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said that periodontal disease is the most relevant field to general health. It can be said that periodontal condition is a “barometer” of general health. Research shows that periodontal disease is closely related to diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, liver and kidney diseases, etc.
According to data from the Fourth National Oral Health Epidemiological Survey, only 1 in 10 elderly people in my country have healthy periodontal health. Regarding the awareness of periodontal disease among the elderly, more than 30% of them do not know that gum inflammation is caused by bacteria.
“Periodontal disease can cause many effects.” Qiao Min said, first of all, it causes multiple teeth to be “involved.” Once periodontal disease occurs, it is often caused by “rows” rather than “teeth.” This is the primary reason for tooth extraction in adults. Once periodontal disease occurs or progresses rapidly, the treatment cycle will be relatively long, which will have a great impact on the functional beauty of the teeth and the patient’s quality of life.
In addition, periodontal disease and systemic disease work both ways. Experts say that taking periodontitis and diabetes as an example, severe periodontitis will definitely affect blood sugar control, thereby increasing the risk of diabetic complications. On the contrary, if a patient’s blood sugar is not controlled satisfactorily, the gums with multiple abscesses will easily become inflamed and suppurated repeatedly.
Age is not the real culprit of “old-fashioned”
Some elderly people have misunderstandings in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. For example, some elderly people believe that it is normal for teeth to fall out as they get older, and that “losing teeth” is a natural law. But this is not the case. Age is not the culprit of tooth loss. Chronic oral diseases such as periodontitis are the main cause.
Wang Yuehong, director of the Implantology Department of the Xiangya Stomatological Hospital of Central South University, said that the early stages of periodontitis include red and swollen gums, bleeding during brushing, and the formation of periodontal pockets. In the late stage, gums recede and teeth become loose and displaced. In severe cases, teeth may become loose or lost. .
“The culprit of periodontitis is the accumulation of plaque and calculus on the tooth surface and under the gums, causing the gums to form deep periodontal pockets and destroying the alveolar bone around the tooth roots, just like a big tree losing the soil around its roots. , it will naturally become loose.” Wang Yuehong said that for this type of severe periodontitis accompanied by loose teeth, the first priority is to control the disease, and severely loose teeth that have no preservation value need to be extracted as soon as possible.
Professional doctors said that the current treatment for periodontal disease is mainly divided into two stages. The first stage is basic periodontal treatment, with the main purpose of controlling infection; the second stage is comprehensive treatment, with the main purpose of restoring function and aesthetics. .
At the same time, Wang Yuehong reminded that we should have reasonable expectations for the effect of periodontitis treatment. Treatment of periodontitis can control the progression of the disease, but it cannot make the lost alveolar bone and receding gums grow back.
There are “three treasures” in oral care to prevent periodontitis
To prevent periodontitis, dental floss, toothbrush, and interdental brush are the “three treasures” of oral care.
According to the core oral health information for the elderly released by the Chinese Stomatological Association, as long as the elderly still have teeth in their mouths, they should brush their teeth every morning and evening. It is more important to brush their teeth before going to bed at night. When brushing your teeth, do not brush vigorously horizontally to avoid damaging your teeth and gums. Elderly people need to choose proximal cleaning tools according to the size of the gap between teeth. If the gum recession is not obvious, you can use dental floss. For those with receding gums and obvious gaps between teeth, you can use an interdental brush, and choose different models according to the size of the gap between teeth. Do not force it in to avoid damaging the gums.
Wang Yuehong reminded that the most critical factor in controlling periodontitis lies not only with doctors, but more importantly with individuals insisting on maintaining oral hygiene for a long time, brushing teeth effectively, and using a variety of tooth cleaning methods such as flossing and interdental brushes to control plaque. In this way This can prevent periodontitis from developing further.
How do young people care for the oral health of the elderly? Long Yi, deputy director of the Department of Stomatology at Jiangbin Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, suggested that in addition to regularly changing toothbrushes for the elderly, they can also frequently ask the elderly if they have any discomfort with their teeth. If discomfort occurs for a long time, they need to seek medical treatment in time. At the same time, dental examinations should be included in the general examination of the elderly. The prevalence of oral diseases in the elderly is high and their self-repair ability is weak. Therefore, the elderly need to have an oral health examination at least once a year. (Reporters Mu Tiecheng, Shuai Cai, Peng Yunjia, Huang Kaiying)
2023-09-20 11:46:00
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