As baby boomers age, many of us are involved in their health care. Many people think of helping their parents with regards to housing and health care.
Healthcare professionals advise patients to be pro-active in their attention to dental care. This advice is important for people of all ages especially for the long term health of individuals in their 60’s and beyond. Attention to one’s dental care will result in the avoidance of dental problems in one’s later years.
The Cost of Dental Care for the Elderly in Perth WA
Health funds may not offer a very good coverage for your elderly parents because, in general, it covers the basic dental needs. Much of adult dental care may come right out of their own pocket. One problem with not having a higher level of dental service coverage is that as people age, so does their previous dental work. Research has shown that people who don’t have good dental coverage are less likely to go to the dentist, and this can aggravate the problem of aging dental work.
Oral Health in Your 50’s, 60’s and 70’s
It’s always a good idea to see the dentist every six months, and even more important when a baby boomer is in their 50s. The concept of assessing dental work in their fifties, sixties and seventies wasn’t something most parents thought of, probably because the common solution for missing or severely decayed teeth was dentures. Seeing a set of dentures in a glass is associated with old people, but with today’s advanced dental technology, there is a better solution than dentures for the aging population. It’s worth noting that young people are not immune to losing teeth – trauma or disease can cause teeth to fall out or need to be extracted.
Dental Implants: A Viable Solutions to Dentures
A preferred solution is dental implants. Dental implants replace missing teeth, or even an entire mouth of teeth, using a technique called All-on-4 Dental Implants. The success rate of dental implants is around 98% over a 10-year period, which makes them one of the most successful prosthetic replacement options in health care.
Today’s baby boomers are living longer and healthier than their parents. They also desire to enjoy a higher quality of life, which includes social interactions and eating out with friends. Being able to smile and chew food is an important aspect of social interaction as well as self confidence. Dental implants are natural-looking permanent replacement teeth that you care for just like your natural teeth.
Many baby boomers and pensioners might have an important decision to make with regards to their oral health to avoid having dentures or dental implants in the future. At Dr. Vicky’s Smile Design Studio, we encourage all of our patients – young and old – to come in for a check and clean every six months so that we can address any issues earlier on. Dentures and dental implants can be an unexpected expense of having missing teeth. Call the friendly staff at our dental clinic in Mosman Park or Downtown Perth and schedule your next check and clean.
If your oral health has got to a point to where you need to have teeth extracted and are looking at bridges, dentures or dental implants, we invite you to take a look at our smile gallery to see some of our former work. You may also schedule a Free Consultation with Dr. Ho where you can discuss your dental concerns and see if Dental Implants* are right for you.
Surgery procedures carry risks. Before scheduling, one should get an additional opinion from a qualified health professional.
