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Essay on Physiological Changes in the Geriatric Patient
With the improved life expectation brought about in part by improved health conditions and more accessible programs, the population of the aged is increasing. An increase in the proportion of this population is occurring in industrialized countries. Thus, the pyramid-shaped population is being transformed into a column. By about 2025, 8 of 11 Third World countries will have an elderly population exceeding 16 million. As a consequence, there will also be an increased demand for dental treatment, with the growing need for programs covering not only the population in general but also the aged, as suggested by epidemiologic data. Over the next few decades, the rapid growth of the aged segment of the population will affect dental practice.
It is important to define the meaning of "aged". The Bureau of Health Professions defines it as a "population with health conditions and needs significantly different from those of young people that are frequently complicated by physical, behavioral and social changes associated with age". This group includes people older than 60 years, but also refers to young people with physical and mental conditions similar to those described above for the aged. The basic concept of aging is the loss of adaptability of the organism with time, although this is not an intrinsic characteristic of all organisms. This means that not all depends on age and, furthermore, the wide variability of the physical, medical and mental conditions of persons older than 60-65 years renders the chronological criterion inappropriate for the identification of geriatric patients.
Even though the aged may keep their teeth over the years, their oral health is far from optimal requiring the development of treatment plans that consider psychosocial, socioeconomic and medical/medication variables which should somehow determine not only immediate success but also successful long-term treatment................
