This story hits too close to home... I just found out that my mother-in-law, has been refusing to go to the dentist and when she did go, she refused to let her dentist take X-rays of her teeth! At 87 she felt no pain and didn't feel it was necessary to maintain the good habits she always practiced and preached to her family. Because they don't live locally, my wife and I cannot do as much as we would like to support our parents in their later years. We have been engaged in discussions of her medical health and helped advocate seeing specialists for changes in medications which have greatly improved her mental state. However this whole time we assumed she was continuing the high level of dental care she had committed to many years ago. We knew her "new" dentist when her original dentist retired. We knew the periodontal specialist she was alternating hygiene visits with. We thought we were very engaged in helping her stay healthy, especially her oral health.
Dental problems in our later years can come on swiftly and devastate even the healthiest of mouths. The excuses I've heard were "I'm just too tired at bedtime to brush my teeth", " I've been good and watched my diet my whole life, a little candy now can't hurt me", "I didn't want to go to the expense of dental care when nothing bothers me".
My mother-in-law's dentist was nice enough to email her X-rays and to review her treatment options with me. 7 teeth need to be extracted because of gum line cavities that could have been easily filled if found earlier. Prior to this she had lost only 1 out of 28 teeth! That tooth was lost 2 years ago and at that time none of the other teeth were decayed. She was getting her teeth cleaned 3 times a years and proud of the preventive dentistry she was more than happy to ask for.
Too often our parents are giving up on their teeth figuring it is not important and it's too expensive. I think the opposite... Prevention is still the most cost effective way to be healthy. Our seniors should be strongly encouraged to see a dentist for X-rays at least once a year and should have their teeth cleaned as often as possible because preventative cleanings are cost effective. It's very difficult to tell a senior that they are in good health but they outlived their teeth and now they must sacrifice their teeth in order to be healthy or else risk pain and infection.
Please tell your parents to Swish, Floss, Brush & Swish again and make sure they are still seeing a dentist (hopefully your dentist).
If you have any questions or would like me to write about a specific dental question please email me at robwaldmandds@gmail.com and also visit my website at
Happy Smiling,
-Dr. Rob-
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