1. Changes in the supporting tissues require a modified treatment.
2. Medicaments the patient is receiving must be prescribed by the doctor.
3. Tissues losing their tolerance to irritants require a modified therapy.
4. Tissue changes associated with aging are due to specific disease processes.
5. Some patients attend dentists only when they are experiencing very severe pain.
6. Even past dental experiences should be considered in treatment planning.
IX. Read and translate the text.
Text A. Oral Diseases of the Elderly
Dentistry for the elderly must be practiced with due consideration of the biological factors since the adaptive mechanism and tissue regenerative potentials of an elderly patient are usually significantly lowered. The elderly are not merely older ordinary patients but they require a different approach, modified treatment and aknowledge of how the tissue changes associated with aging affect oral health services. Many of the tissue changes once regarded as natural changes associated with aging are actually due to specific diseases processes. The dentist cannot alter the effects of old age but may assist the patient to adapt to the changed physiological state.
The jaws, the tooth supporting structures, the oral mucosa, the tongue, the salivary glands and even the teeth are affected by aging. The reaction to stress and the process of healing change markedly in the elderly patients. The soft oral tissues lose their tolerance to irritants, their adaptive capacity and more important their repair potentialities. The mucosa is less elastic and becomes more easily injured. Changes in the supporting tissues and the oral mucosa at this age require a modified treatment.
The clinician must evaluate the patients complaints. It is important to distinguish between complaints on an organic basis, those related to reduced tissue function and those associated with social maladjustment loneliness and fear in the geriatric patient. The clinicians task is indeed difficult since all three components may be present in varying degrees.
The average aged patient has one or more chronic diseases and it is especially important to follow his health year by year. The history and the examination should include a consideration of the past and present systemic diseases, past dental experiences and the exact nature of all to be considered in treatment planning. Special attention should be paid to the examination of the lymph nodes, the floor of the mouth, the tongue and the oropharynx.
The oral condition of an average geriatric patient usually leaves much to be desired. This age group shows a huge need for dental health services.
X. Answer the questions.
1. How must the elderly patients be treated?
2. Are the tissue regenerative potentials of the elderly usually lowered?
3. Are tissue changes due to specific disease processes?
4. What must a dentist follow in order to treat older ordinary patients?
5. What kind of help can a dentist give to a patient?
6. What must clinicians evaluate?
7. What is important for dentists to distinguish between complaints on an organic basis?
8. The clinicians task is difficult, isnt it?
9. It is especially important to follow elderly patients health, isnt it?
10. What factors must be considered in treatment planning?
11. What should special attention be paid to in treatment planning?
XI. Fill in the gaps with the model verbs (can, may, must, should).
1. Dentists not alter the effects of old age.
2. Doctors assist the patients.
3. Dentistry be practiced with due consideration.
4. Doctors evaluate the patients complaints.
5. History and examination include a consideration of the past and present systemic disease.
