DENT 3129 - DENTISTRY AND THE AGING PATIENT

[40 Credits]

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of caring for and about our aging population. This first part of this course will introduce the basics of Gerontology including demographics, theories of aging, the biology of aging and its implications to dentistry, as well as, the social aspects of aging, cognitive changes in aging and what it means to age successfully. The second portion of the class will focus on topics specifically related to geriatric dentistry. Included will be topics on physical evaluation and treatment planning, medications consumed by the elderly and their implications to dentistry, the use of implants to restore the elderly dentition, caries in the elderly, care-delivery systems used to treat the elderly, access to care issues, Medicare, Medicaid and dentistry, dying death and bereavement, and how the filed of dentistry can work with other health care professionals in an interdisciplinary team environment while considering care for older adults.