Literature Review-Geriatric Paper

Literature Review-Geriatric Paper
Name
Institution
Introduction
The elderly are usually faced with many health defects due to their tender age. Dry mouth is one of the health issues that they normally face as their ages advances. Dry mouth is a health issue that leads to other health defects that leads to loss of tooth or decay. The lack of saliva in their mouth leads to the increase of acid in their tooth, which results in decay or loss. Saliva helps one to taste and digest food. It also helps to remove the food particles that lodge in between teeth. The food particles that usually remain in between teeth are the main cause of tooth decay in the mouth. Lack of saliva also results in cracked lips due to the dryness of the mouth. The dryness of the lips might make it hard for one to talk. These are some of the common health predicaments that the elderly undergo due to their advanced ages. We analyze the impacts of geriatric dentistry and why is vital for a dental hygienist to understand the condition.
Analysis
In most cases, lack of saliva in the mouth usually leads to a dry tongue, which makes it painful and difficult for one to swallow food and even talk. It is an issue that can affect any age, but the most affected are the elderly. The elderly in this context are people of ages between 55 years of age and above (Midlöv, Eriksson & Kragh, 2009). They are usually faced with the problem of dry mouth. Soreness around the edges of the lips can be experienced due to lack of saliva in the mouth.

Since saliva does not exist anymore in the mouth, the elderly people with dry mouth normally have bad breath. Their bad breath is compounded by the fact that saliva does not flush the food particles that remain in the mouth after a meal. In other circumstances, elderly women who wear lipsticks and have the dry mouth problem are normally faced with the problem of cleansing. The lipstick that ends up in the teeth might not be cleaned up due to the lack of saliva. It is a problem that might lead to bad breath. It has also been researched that dry mouth might cause a sore throat. An individual with hoarse mouth might experience some pain in the throat especially when swallowing or talking due to the nonexistence of saliva in the mouth.
Some drugs have also been studied to cause dry mouth. Some of these drugs are used to cure some health conditions that the elderly people usually go through due to their advanced ages. More than five hundred types of drugs that refused to treat some ailments in both the young and elderly have been noted to cause dry mouth (Carpenter, 2014). Loss of saliva in the mouth is the side effect of these drugs that the elderly people are usually prescribed for numerous conditions. Some of the health issues that the elderly go through are high blood pressure, diabetes, overactive bladder and many more. The drugs that are used to treat these ailments have been researched to cause dry mouth. The chemicals in these drugs normally cause one to lose the saliva in their mouth, which results in other dental health problems. The elderly people are mostly associated with some of these drugs due to the numerous health issues that they always face. Mental health problem is another health issue that they undergo, and it requires the administering of the drugs to control the disorder. Allergies have also been noted to be another health problem that faces the elderly people. The drugs that are used to treat the various allergies that they suffer have been responsible for the dry mouth problem.
Radiation might affect the glands responsible for the release of saliva. Damaging the salivary glands through radiation or any other manner might lead to a severely dry mouth. The salivary glands are responsible for the production of saliva, which naturally cleans the mouth. Some diseases such as cancer usually require chemotherapy as part of extensive treatment. Many studies have found the chemotherapy can make the saliva to thicken and lose its function. The thickness of the saliva might cause the mouth to be dry due to its inability to clean and flush the mouth of the remaining food debris. When the saliva is thick, it might not be able to move freely between the teeth. It is an issue that might result in the accumulation of the food particles, which would then result in tooth decay and bad breath for the elderly people. Since the elderly usually reach an advanced age that causes their bodies to lose the strength and stamina, some issues such as nerve damage usually occur. Nerve damage is a common problem that affects the elderly due to their deteriorating health and advanced ages. It has been researched that nerve damage could result in dry mouth (Kamp, 2010). Sometimes nerve damage might occur due to an accident or head injury, which could result in dry mouth. The elderly people usually fall accidentally in their homes or hospitals due to their weak bodies. The falls might lead to a neck or head injury, which results in dry mouth. When the nerves in the neck are injured due to an accidental fall or any other form of accident, then a miscommunication between them and the salivary glands might occur. The nerves are responsible for communication with the salivary glands to make saliva, and their damage might not result in this function.
It was researched that the number of elderly people subsequently increased in the twentieth century as compared to other past years. The increase was attributed to the human being global longevity. As the number of the elderly increased in the twentieth century, the health issue of dry mouth also increased. The human being longevity has been studied to increase further in the coming years, which would also lead to an increased number of the elderly people suffering from the dry mouth problem. It is an issue that has been reported to affect both the developed and third world countries. The longevity of human beings in the current and future centuries has been attributed to the decrease of mortality rate in the lives of human beings. The improved quality health care that has been witnessed in many health facilities have led to the low mortality rate in the lives of humans. Other than the quality 8health care delivery in many health facilities and elderly homes, sanitation has also paled a significant role in decreasing the mortality rate. The living conditions that have drastically improved in recent years have played a vital role in increasing the longevity of the elderly people. In spite of this, the prevalence of the dry mouth problem has been widely reported in all countries across the world. It has been noted that the lives of the elderly will further increase by 33% by the year 2060. It is a situation that has led to an increase in life expectancy in human beings.
Some health issues such as mental problems and cancer are some of the health defects that attack the elderly people despite the provisions of health that have been improved in recent years. The dental hygienist should understand the dry mouth problem to prevent an increase in other dental health issues (Percival, 2009). Tooth decay and loss of teeth is a factor that results from the dry mouth problem. A dental hygienist with a clear knowledge regarding the mater will seek to prevent the elderly from facing such defects that would make it harder for them to eat food by themselves without the assistance of a nurse. It is a better prospect to prevent the dry mouth problem than to treat it all together. Treating the problem will enable a dental hygienist to administer some drugs that might have resultant side effects to the problem.
Conclusion
The dry mouth problem is a common problem with the elderly people due to their advanced age and the drugs they are prescribed for some of the health issues that affect them such as mental disorder, high blood pressure, diabetes and many more. Some of the drugs that are responsible for the treatment of these diseases have been noted to increase the gravity of the dry mouth.
References
Carpenter, G. (2014). Dry mouth: A clinical guide on causes, effects, and treatments. Heidelberg:
Springer
Kamp, J. W. (2010). Dietary fiber: New frontiers for food and health. Wageningen: Wageningen
Academic Publishers.
MacEntee, M. I., Müller, F., & Wyatt, C. (2010). Oral Healthcare and the Frail Elder: A
Clinical Perspective. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Midlöv, P., Eriksson, T., & Kragh, A. (2009). Drug-related problems in the elderly. Dordrecht:
Springer.
Percival, S. L. (2009). Microbiology and Aging: Clinical Manifestations. Totowa, NJ: Humana
Press