Commenting on a new report, 'Improving older people's oral health', published by the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, Andrew Kaye, Head of Policy at Independent Age, said:
“Maintaining good oral health is a crucial part of any older person’s overall health and wellbeing and there should be no reason why it gets treated as anything other than a priority. The finding that 1.8 million or more older people have an urgent dental problem is truly shocking. There needs to be a significant step-change in the way health and care services view oral health. This is partly about helping individuals who rely on dentures, but there need to be many other improvements too. With such large growth in the numbers of older people needing dental services, we need to see better preventative advice on maintaining oral health, and strong regulation of hospitals and care homes to ensure that standards on oral health are being complied with and adhered to.”