Dental health is often neglected among the elderly because of the numerous comorbidities in this population, such as cardiovascular diseases. However, dental health influences general health and quality of life by impacting both the general health and the psychological state of the individual. The present review highlights the main dental comorbidities in the elderly population, their impact on the quality of life, the barriers towards access to dental care in the elderly and methods to improve their dental health. Information related to dental care and its importance must be provided both to older individuals and their caregivers in order to detect dental pathology and treat it adequately. Ensuring dental health involves the whole society of elders, caregivers, dental care providers, the public sector, health policymakers, and the private sector.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the status of the elderly patient with oral pathology, comparing two groups of elderly patients, from the point of view of presentation for periodic dental control (regular and irregular). In carrying out the study, the following parameters were analyzed: the epidemiological profile of the group of patients; associated chronic diseases; dental hygiene; the accessibility of, and attendance at, dental health services; quality of life; and dental clinical diagnosis. Of the 120 elderly patients included in the study, only 25% present regularly for dental checkups. Increasing age leads to a reduction in the share of patients who regularly present themselves for dental checkups, and patients with higher education and those with higher incomes regularly visit the dentist. Associated chronic diseases are found in both groups; patients with regular checkups have a statistically significantly lower drug consumption for dental pain in the last month compared to those who present irregularly for checkups. A better achievement of dental hygiene is observed in patients who regularly see the dentist. It is alarming that we find patients (10% among those who do not visit the dentist regularly) who do not use a toothbrush and toothpaste, and approximately 40% of the patients enrolled in the study do not know which toothpaste they use. Approximately 40% of the interviewed patients indicate a lack of money as the main reason for attending the dentist only when necessary. Difficult access is mentioned by 10% of the group of patients who regularly visit the dentist and who come from rural areas. The reasons for visiting the dentist are different in the two groups: patients who regularly visit the dentist request caries treatment or prosthetic work, or they present with dental bleeding; patients with irregular checkups especially request emergency services such as toothache treatment, assistance with denture problems, and tooth extractions. When undergoing odontal and endodontic examination, 60% of the respondents who go to the dentist as required suffer from periodontal disease, and 50% of them suffer from class I and II edentation. The results of the study demonstrated that elderly patients who regularly attend periodic dental checkups have better self-reported and dentist-confirmed oral health status.

Oral diseases can affect the quality of life of all individuals, including elderly people. In elderly people, the associated general diseases can increase the risk of dental pathologies or can impact their treatment. The main aim of this study was to identify elderly patients with dental pathology out of the total number of patients admitted to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at a tertiary-level hospital in North-Western Romania. Another aim was to describe the characteristics of the patients included in this study, as well as to analyze data from patients with dental pathologies. In this retrospective study, the medical records of patients admitted to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Bihor County Emergency Hospital between 2016 and 2020 were analyzed, with a focus on patients aged 65 years or more. After applying the exclusion criteria, 721 patients were kept in the study, of which 316 (43.8%) had at least one dental pathology. Most elderly patients with dental pathologies were admitted in 2018 (n = 89). The most common associated systemic diseases were arterial hypertension (n = 268) and ischemic heart disease (n = 233), while the most common dental pathologies were pulpitis (n = 185), chronic apical periodontitis (n = 61) and abscesses (n = 35). Most patients were either healed or had an improved condition at the time of discharge. The great number of dental pathologies, as well as the diversity in dental pathologies, underline the necessity for better preventive programs aimed not only at children, adolescents or young people but at the elderly population as well.