According to statistics, up to 60% of people over 65 suffer from complete tooth loss. This condition severely affects their health and lives. So what are the causes, consequences and how to thoroughly address the problem of complete tooth loss in the elderly? Let's find out right in the article below!
Causes of Complete Tooth Loss in The Elderly
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Due to natural aging process: When people become old, tissues connecting teeth to jawbone gradually degenerate, making teeth loose and fall out gradually.
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Sjogren's syndrome makes dry mouth, severely damaging tooth enamel leading to cavities, gingivitis and a lot of tooth loss.
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Some diseases like diabetes and immune deficiency make teeth prone to serious decay, infection and extraction.
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Due to poor dental hygiene habits, long-term lack of dental examination, untreated cavities lead to a lot of tooth loss.
- Accidents cause broken, loosened or loss of many teeth that cannot be saved.
Serious Consequences Of Complete Tooth Loss In The Elderly
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Encounter many difficulties and inconvenience in daily eating and chewing solid foods.
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The digestive system works poorly because food is not well-ground, thoroughly chewed. Patients tend to suffer bloating, indigestion after meals.
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Increase risks of digestive diseases, nutritional deficiency causing exhaustion.
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Losing many teeth increases risks of respiratory diseases like bronchitis, pneumonia.
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Having bad breath, unpleasant mouth odor causes lack of confidence in communication, affects life.
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The face structure collapses, becomes less aesthetic without teeth to support jaw bones firmly.
- Elderly patients may experience dizziness, blurred vision and faint due to excessive blood loss from tooth extractions. This is very dangerous and can lead to death.
>> See more: Young children with pulpitis and the concerns parents need to be aware of
7 Most Effective Solutions To Treat Complete Tooth Loss In The Elderly
Getting complete dentures made of metal or high-quality resin
Complete dentures are solutions to replace a whole set of missing teeth in the elderly. This type of dentures is made of 100% metal or high-quality composite resin, safe for health. The dentist will take measurements and design custom dentures suitable for the size and structure of the patient’s current lower and upper jawbone. The complete dentures are sturdily designed, durable, with color resembling natural teeth to create a sense of aesthetics and naturalness when smiling and talking.
Getting 4-8 dental implants for a full-arch restoration
Dental implant placement is a solution to replace missing teeth with artificial porcelain teeth, completely fixed into Titanium implant posts. For cases of complete tooth loss in the elderly, doctors will place 4-8 Titanium implants into both upper and lower jawbone. After 3-6 months for the implants to fully integrate with bone, the dentist will make aesthetic porcelain teeth fixed on top. Placing dental implants for full-arch restoration will help completely restore the jawbone structure and stable, long-lasting chewing ability.
Getting removable implant-supported dentures
After the implants are placed and integrated for 3-6 months, dentists will design and make aesthetic porcelain teeth based on the implant framework. These teeth are beautiful porcelain teeth attachable and detachable to the abutments on the implants. The advantage of implant-supported dentures is easy cleaning to effectively avoid plaque buildup. At the same time, they also fully restore eating, chewing and natural speaking functions for elderly patients with complete tooth loss.
Grafting artificial bone before full-arch implant placement
For cases with significantly atrophic jawbone due to age, illnesses, dentists will suggest placing additional artificial bone grafts to create optimal conditions before implant placement. Specifically, artificial bone material will be grafted to increase the thickness and height of existing jaw structure.....
Comprehensive facial reconstruction when losing all teeth
Besides prosthetic teeth restoration with implants/dentures, surgical techniques like bone/soft tissue grafting can be applied to reconstruct bone/tissue defects caused by severe tooth loss. Specifically, this solution will help support jawbone structure, fill facial volume and significantly improve aesthetics for the elderly with complete tooth loss.....
Placing multiple fixed implants to support prosthetic teeth
For a few special cases of patients wanting to preserve only 1-2 remaining teeth after multiple tooth loss, the solution is placing additional fixed implants around those teeth. Specifically, dentists will assess and place 4-6 extra Titanium implants into suitable positions on the jawbone. After 3-6 months for the implants to integrate and stabilize, dentists will design and make full prosthetic teeth based on the stable implants and remaining teeth.
Orthodontic alignment of remaining disaligned teeth
For some exceptional cases, patients may still have 1-2 remaining teeth after tooth loss but those teeth are severely disaligned. In such cases, dentists can suggest options of orthodontic treatment to straighten remaining teeth into proper alignment and symmetry before carrying out implant placement or prosthetic tooth procedures.
A reputable address to fix tooth loss in the elderly in Ho Chi Minh City?
Champion Dental Clinic is known as the leading dental center providing prestigious, high-quality dental services in Ho Chi Minh City. With a team of highly-skilled, experienced dentists together with state-of-the-art equipment, Champion Dental Clinic is confident to deliver excellent specialized dental treatment with sensible costs for all clients.
If you have any dental issues like complete tooth loss, gingivitis, cavities...or want to improve dental aesthetics, do not hesitate to contact Champion Dental Clinic for proper examination and treatment suggestions. We always stand ready to accompany you on the journey towards a bright, beaming smile!
Vietnamese & English: (028) 5411-2295
中文: (028) 5411-2297 172 Nguyen Luong Bang, Tan Phu Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.
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