The average age continues to increase bringing the well-being of the elderly to the center of attention in the medical and social field, aging today is not necessarily a phase of physical and mental decay, even in the field of dentistry, maintaining full functions of the oral cavity in older people has become a priority.
Removable prostheses and oral mucosa
La perdita dei denti fa parte del processo di invecchiamento, oggi è molto semplice ripristinare i denti persi grazie all’implantologia a carico immediato oppure grazie all’inserimento di protesi mobili.
Nel caso dell’implantologia a carico immediato per il paziente non c’è alcuna differenza tra i denti naturali e quelli inseriti tramite impianto dentale. Grazie all’implantologia infatti i denti ripristinati si integrano perfettamente all’interno del cavo orale.
Patients who opt instead for a mobile prosthesis could instead have problems in swallowing or chewing phases or still report a sensation of pain in the gums.
Aging and sensitivity of the gums
Aging involves the loss of teeth and in edentulous subjects there is a progressive increase in gingival sensitivity.
Valutare la sensibilità delle gengive e della mucosa orale ora prima della realizzazione di una protesi mobile è un fattore ancora poco sviluppato nel campo dell’odontoiatria.
In recent times, however, precisely to promote the well-being of patients during the aging phases, the sensitivity of the gums and oral mucosa is measured through specific tests before the manufacture of removable prostheses.
In a clinical study, published in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, researchers investigated the effect of aging and tooth loss on the sensory function of the gingival mucosa to understand what the characteristics of pain perception are in toothless individuals.
Research
The research involved 18 patients, including young people, edentulous elderly people and edentulous elderly people, to whom the following parameters were measured through specific tests:
- tactile sensitivity threshold
- pain tolerance level
Results
The threshold of tactile sensitivity and the pain threshold is decidedly lower in edentulous elderly patients. Research therefore confirms that in the aging phase and especially with the onset of tooth loss it is very probable that the pain threshold in relation to the gums decreases and the sensitivity of the oral mucosa increases.
Clinically evaluating the levels of sensitivity of the gums and the pain threshold of patients could be an excellent approach before proceeding with the insertion of a removable dental prosthesis.
The mobile prosthesis in fact continuously stimulates the gums on which it rests and is therefore a cause of pain for many patients.
To overcome these problems, one can always resort to another rehabilitation technique, precisely that of implantology which guarantees greater comfort and stability.
