| Summary: |
Advances in medical science are enabling people to survive more illness and
disability. As people live longer, their mobility andor ability for self-care often are
reduced by physical or mental disability and other chronic diseases. It may
become unreasonable or impractical for them to access mainstream dental
services. Increasing numbers of dentate elderly people with expectations of oral
health higher than earlier cohorts of elderly people are likely to bring increasing
demands to the dental profession for their continuing care. Thus, the oral care for
disabled elderlypeople in noninstitutionalized settings may pose a challenge. The
oral care options available to this group of people include the dental surgery/operatory,
a mobile dental service, home-based or domiciliary dental care, a
mix-and-match combination of surgery-based and domiciliary care, and cyberspace.
Noninstitutionalized, disabled elderly people may have to rely on domiciliary
care services for their oral health care.
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