Geriatric oral health issues in Australia.
OBJECTIVE
To identify and discuss geriatric oral health issues in Australia.


METHODS
A discussion of the demographic trends, oral health trends, and barriers to dental care for older Australians is presented, together with a review of Australian public and private sector geriatric dental services, geriatric dental research, and geriatric dental education.


CONCLUSIONS
Key geriatric oral health issues for Australia include: edentulism is decreasing and older Australians are retaining more natural teeth; coronal and root caries are significant problems, especially as older adults become more functionally dependent, cognitively impaired, and medically compromised; the oral health status of institutionalised older Australians is poor; the onset of severe oral diseases appears to occur in many older Australians prior to their institutionalisation, when they are homebound and dependent upon carers; carers of older adults do not have access to practical education about dental care; the majority of older Australians are eligible to use public-funded dental services, but barriers limit their access to these services; few Australian public or private dental services are designed with a geriatric focus; geriatric dental education does not have a high profile in Australian dental schools; no specialty exists in Australia for geriatric dentistry, nor is there a national geriatric dentistry association.
Chalmers
J M
JM
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Dental Statistics and Research Unit, The University of Adelaide, South Australia. jane.chalmers@adelaide.edu.au
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016321:Dental Care for Aged; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003752:Dental Health Services; D018865:Dental Research; D004497:Education, Dental; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005850:Geriatric Dentistry / Q000193:education; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D018577:Homebound Persons; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000453:epidemiology; D009909:Oral Health; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011331:Private Practice; D011636:Public Health Dentistry; D017213:Root Caries / Q000453:epidemiology