Tag Archives: older patients
The health-seeking 70-year-old
You have read on this blog how age is positively associated with health-seeking behaviour. The older one gets, the less one smokes and the more the daily activity increases. Another recent survey conducted in the UK amongst 1,002 adults age 55 and over, confirms this behaviour.1 The survey conducted for Simplyhealth, the cash-plans provider in dental care, found that: 8 out of 10 70+ year olds, try to keep fit and healthy. More over 70s claim they focus on fitness than those in their 50s and 60s. The key issue for fitness was affordability but 1 in 4 said that companies (dental practices?) target the … Continue reading
Oral Healthcare of Older patients in the UK
The British Dental Association has warned in a recently published report that the quality and availability of oral healthcare for older adults remains an issue and that insufficient priority is being given to making improvements. The report says that the health and well-being of older adults is poorly served and there are concerns for the future. Oral health is often not properly considered in the wider healthcare provision and may patients just don’t get the care they need. The chair of the BDA’s UK Healthcare policy, Dr Robert Kinloch, said “Good oral health is as important for older adults as it is for younger patients. … Continue reading
Dentistry in a Decade
In a short article in the December 2011 issue of Dental Update, two dental students in the U.K. have prognosticated about their new profession. They identify some major trends over the next ten years in delivering dental care to an aging U.K. population.1 The restorations in many older patients will need replacement. There will be a shift, subsequently, to maintaining new restorations until end of life. An increasingly acidic diet (attributed to austerity and the price of food) will increase caries increment and caries prevalence. These trends will surely raise interest in more preventive care by both the adult patients, and under capitated reimbursement, by … Continue reading
Why She Buys
I am frequently struck by how rarely the older woman is portrayed in the media, particularly when it comes to personal services like dental care. In family dentistry, the all-too-common imagery involves children. For example, posters in bus shelter or flyers in the mail from dental offices use a young family or just as often, young kids on a swing. This approach ignores the fundamentals of demographics and income distribution in North American and European economies. The reality is that older women are now more numerous in many communities than children, have far more funding available for dental services, and generally are more in need … Continue reading
Your patients’ ability to pay – young vs old
It has always been the case the older patients are generally more able to pay for their dental services than younger ones. A good thing too. As shown in the 2009 Adult Oral Health Survey in the UK, the prevalence of dental caries grows with age.