Increased longevity and the perceived increasing trend of prescribed drug usage in elderly patients mandate that dentists treating gerodontic individuals be acutely aware of the unique problems these factors present. This study was designed to elucidate the prevalence of prescription medication usage among geriatric dental patients including awareness of drugs used and the reasons for use as well as compliance in the consumption of the drug(s). Data was collected on a total of 163 elderly patients seen at the Baylor College of Dentistry, Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology.
Increased longevity and recently intensified emphasis on gerodontology mandate that dental students'exposure to clinical care of the elderly be enhanced. The extent to which individual students can be exposed to geriatric dental care depends on the availability of elderly patients to dental school clinics and the treatment needs of these patients. The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the dental treatment needs of geriatric patients who seek care at a dental school, and (2) to ascertain if differences exist between the needs of older versus relatively young geriatric patients. Data collected on 128 elderly patients during a three month period indicate that 57% of the aged were either edentulous at examination or treatment planned to become edentulous and receive two full dentures. The remaining 43% were treatment planned to remain dentulous and receive therapies other than full upper and lower dentures. More older geriatric patients required full dentures than their younger cohorts. More young elderly required prophylaxes, scalings, root planing therapy, dental restorations, and partial dentures. Additional to their denture requirements, aged patients appear to have sufficient non‐prosthetic needs to allow for meaningful gerodontic experience by students.
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