SOURCE: Newsplex.com

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VA (NEWSPLEX) — One group of dentists is trying to bring more attention to an often overlooked aspect of elderly care: preventative dental care.

The Virginia Dental Association has launched a year-long pilot program at Trinity Health and Rehab aimed at helping senior citizens take better care of their teeth.

According to the VDA, having a dental team on staff at long-term care facilities can actually lower over all health care costs because it lessens the changes of medical emergencies and expenses concerning oral health and dental disease.

It also says having programs like this one will address what could soon be a very big problem.

Dr. Frank Iurono, the chair of the VAD Access to Care Committee, said, “Population is aging very quickly, and as we age, we’re finding that more of us that are getting older have more teeth. So your finding that residents are starting to join these facilities and they have more and more dental needs. This is going to be a huge epidemic kind of problem in the next ten to 15 years.”

Twenty percent of the U.S. population is expected to be over 65 years old by 2050, and five percent will be over 85. The number of teeth at risk will also rise from about 140 million in 1972 to 933 million by 2030.

The dentists will help residents at Trinity learn more about way they can keep their teeth healthy and clean, and they will provide dental car when needed.

The effort is also part of the American Dental Association’s Action for Dental Health movement.