Dental Health during Retirement Years

Most people go to the dentist while they are employed, but when retirement starts dental visits are one of the first things to be trimmed from the budget. Today 50% of the people who live to be 65 will live to be 90 years old. That means for the average person the dental work they have at 65 may be 10 years old and it is expected to last 25 more years. Most people do not get major dental work done after retirement and thus the health of their month deteriorates as time goes on. During the last 10 years of life health issues is often a barrier to major dental repairs as well as financial barriers. This situation results in severe dental disease and deterioration for the elderly when most social situations revolve around eating. Dental Insurance has trained dentist to give their patients "here and now" examinations. In other words, patient's have an annual limits to their coverage, so they get an examination designed to fix problems to get the patient by for one year- next year. What retiring people really need is a long term "comprehensive examination" designed to carry them through their retirement years. This kind of examination is often not offered as the dentists cannot get off their roller skates long enough to do this type of examination and workup. They will not get paid by insurance for this and they have alot of patients to see to make ends meet. The moral of the story is- if you want a healthy mouth during retirement and avoid the health effects of the oral systemic connection , you need to ask for a comprehensive examination and treatment plan to last at least 20 years.