What Makes Older Adults More Prone to Getting Gum Disease?

There are definitely perks to growing older. With life experience comes wisdom, retirement, and most importantly, the opportunity to spoil your grandkids rotten.

However, an increased risk of developing gum disease is most definitely not one of those perks. Adults over the age of 60 are significantly more likely to contract this oral condition, to the point where some might wonder “what makes them more prone to gum disease in the first place?” If you’re asking this question yourself, keep reading. It’s more complicated than having poor oral hygiene!

Medication Side Effects

As you age, there’s a chance you’ll find yourself needing more and more medications to help balance your body and mind. Some of those medications might come with side effects that make it difficult to mitigate bacteria accumulation in your mouth. A common one for anti-depressants and heart medications, for example, is dry mouth, which impairs your saliva’s ability to help keep your teeth clean.

Fluctuating Hormones

You might have heard of pregnancy gum disease, but what about menopause gum disease? This particular type is called desquamative gingivitis, and forms at no fault to the patient. Instead, the culprit is hormone imbalances.

Alcohol and Tobacco Usage

Excessive drinking and smoking can catch up to you in a number of ways, and one of them is gum disease. Roughly 89% of alcoholics develop the condition, while for smokers the numbers are closer to 60%. What’s more is that substance abuse makes it harder to get rid of gum disease, as the chemicals can impair the healing process. If you haven’t quit heavy drinking or smoking habits, there’s no time like the present!

Impaired Inflammatory Response

Your inflammatory response typically gets triggered when your body detects a harmful infection. It’s supposed to help facilitate the process of fighting off the infection by attracting more white blood cells to the area, though chronic inflammation can cause more harm instead.

For the elderly with conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis, the problem is getting their inflammatory response to activate in the first place. These conditions interrupt inflammation, making it more difficult for the body to slow the progress of gum disease.

In Conclusion

Risk factors associated with age can make treating gum disease more complicated and make contracting the disease much easier. All told it’s not a great combination! That’s why it’s important to visit your dentist for regular checkups and cleanings – even if your full of sage wisdom. Your friendly dental professional will help you keep an eye on your oral health and fight off gum disease!

About the Author

Dr. Marianna Gaitsgory’s philosophy is that it’s better to prevent a condition like gum disease from happening in the first place. If your goal is to increase your defenses against this oral condition as you age, she’ll give you personalized advice for doing so. If you have developed gum disease, however, Dr. Gaitsgory will help you eliminate the disease, and will help make sure you’re comfortable during treatment! To contact her office, call 508-875-0900.