Taking Care of Your Dental Hygiene
Proper dental hygiene ensures you have strong teeth and healthy gums, which are crucial for eating and nourishing your body. Many overlook their dental throughout life, but it’s vital to healthy living, especially as you grow older. Unfortunately, poor oral health increases with age, putting seniors at risk for severe dental hygiene complications.
Risks of poor dental hygiene
Poor dental hygiene is not uncommon among older adults for a few reasons, primarily because of economic disadvantages, smoking, and an inability to get to the dentist.
- Economically disadvantaged- Routine dental visits can get expensive, especially for seniors who no longer have insurance during retirement. Unfortunately, Medicare doesn’t cover most dental care services like cleanings, fillings, dentures, and dental plates.
- Homebound- Seniors who are homebound or have a disability that makes it challenging for them to move or travel without assistance often are unable to attend dental appointments without assistance.
- Smoking- Those who smoke have a higher risk of oral cancer, gum disease, and tooth decay.
Dental hygiene complications
If you don’t take care of your oral health, it can lead to numerous health complications, such as tooth decay, gum disease, tooth loss, or oral cancer.
- Tooth decay, also known as cavities, is permanent damage to the surface of the teeth. It’s one of the most common oral health problems often caused by bacteria and not cleaning your teeth thoroughly.
- Gum disease is an infection of the gums. The early stage of gum disease is gingivitis, which causes redness and swelling. Later stages of gum disease can cause the gum to pull away from the teeth, increasing the risk of tooth loss.
- Oral cancer or mouth cancer is when cancer forms in the lips, gums, tongue, cheeks, roof of the mouth, or the floor of the mouth. Signs and symptoms of oral cancer include mouth pain, ear pain, a sore around the lip or mouth that won’t heal, loose teeth, and difficulty swallowing.
Improving your dental hygiene
The best way to decrease the risk of dental hygiene complications is to stay on top of your oral health.
- Schedule and attend routine dental visits. Talk to your insurance company to learn what dental procedures are covered, and do your best to participate in regular cleanings, especially if you have oral health concerns.
- Brush your teeth at least twice a day. Brush your teeth at least once in the morning and once at night before bed.
- Floss and scrape your tongue daily. Between brushings, keep your mouth clean with floss, mouthwash, and a tongue scraper to rid the mouth of unnecessary bacteria and germs.
- Properly clean your dentures and other mouth accessories. If you have dentures, mouth guards, retainers, or other mouth accessories, make sure you’re properly cleaning them.
- Avoid smoking. Smoking significantly increases the risk of various oral health concerns. If you’re having trouble quitting, talk to your doctor about treatment options.
How Visiting Angels can help
Taking care of your oral health can be challenging as you age. If you need help brushing, flossing, cleaning accessories, or transportation to your dentist, the team at Visiting Angels can help. Our Garland office works with seniors in Fate, Heath, Lucas, Quinlan, Rockwall, Rowlett, Royse City, Sachse, West Tawakoni, and Wylie. If you’d like to learn more about our services, send us a message or call 214.703.8123.