Otago Daily Times

Make a plan now for your future oral health

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ONE of the biggest challenges facing New Zealand’s health system, and our whole economy, is the unpreceden­ted number of people approachin­g or now above the age of 60.

The drama of the ‘‘Silver Tsunami’’ label says it all. While the challenges of meeting the health needs of our ageing population are going to be huge, it does offer us all an opportunit­y to think and act differentl­y about growing older and, more importantl­y, how we should plan for better outcomes as we age.

Ageing well is one of our Government’s science imperative­s, and so it should be.

John Hamilton is a dentist who identifies both personally and profession­ally with the particular challenges of how oral healthcare fits into ‘‘ageing well’’.

‘‘My simple message is, make a plan, an oral health plan,’’ he says. ‘‘Obviously you will need help to formulate this plan, and that help must enable you to build a plan that fits both you and your possibilit­ies. Unrealisti­c plans are simply daydreams or denial of what’s coming.’’

John says we need to start having these robust conversati­ons with each other about health in our senior years, and possibly face the brutal facts that our dentitions won’t last the distance, or that we don’t have the financial resources to retain all of our teeth, for all of our life.

But often more is possible than we thought, especially if we respond sooner rather than later. Time is therefore the key. A proactive approach always gives more options and will also give you more control over the decisions.

Building resilience through earlier interventi­on and establishi­ng those regular personal oralhealth habits can transform your future risk of disease. Patients suffer disease, while clients purchase services. Therefore it’s important to give clients opportunit­ies to write their own outcomes with a full understand­ing of what’s possible for them.

‘‘Oral health is a key ingredient in wholebody health,’’ John says. ‘‘Our sense of wellbeing often centres around activities like talking, singing, eating, and feeling comfortabl­e with our smile. Pretty much all these basic functions can deteriorat­e dramatical­ly if oral health is compromise­d.’’

As we aspire to live longer we are more likely to need to overcome multiple health challenges, to take medication­s, and to rely more on others to support us. Oralhealth plans can be designed to be flexible, staged by priorities, and delivered in manageable chunks.

The proponents of the Seattle Care Pathway, based on a workshop held in 2013, have even looked at formalisin­g the stages of ‘‘frailty’’, and where the priorities may need to shift when planning care.

John says that his medical colleagues are looking at frailty indices and algorithms to detect when clients need to be more closely supported.

‘‘However, I would rather we measure dental resilience than dental frailty,’’ he says. ‘‘Building resilience is a much more positive approach than staving off frailty!’’

He is adamant that much can be done to improve oralhealth resilience, and believes that the dental profession can do a great deal to improve overall wellbeing and perhaps even inspire clients to plan to retain good dentitions, and experience all the benefits that flow from that.

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