Abstract

Aging is a continuous process from birth until death. It is filled with many metabolic reactions that define the integrity of our Being over time. The human animal is a fragile entity, susceptible to harmful as well as what we think are normal bacteria that can become deleterious to our overall health throughout ones’ existence. In the formation of the human body, the periodontium is formed from primordial stem cells creating a supportive system of bone, ligaments, and several levels of gingiva; all of which support the subsequent onset of teeth. The aging process is fraught with catabolic activity, which can deteriorate healthy tissue in the body and mouth, jeopardizing the longevity of teeth. Systemic disease, long-term smoking, diabetes, dementias of different origins, lack of self-efficacy, poor oral healthcare habits and the aging process itself also accelerate the loss of teeth due to heightened disease states and can shorten ones’ lifespan as well.

This author is using the new term, Geriatric Periodontal Disease (GPD), as a combined system of chronic, aggressive, and disease-related periodontal disease, which in the presence of advanced age, creates a chronic intraoral disease state resulting in the diminishment of bone, increase in infection of the gingiva, as well as the degradation of the ligaments between the tooth structure and the remaining bone around the teeth. With the presence of such ‘catabolic’ activity surrounding one’s teeth in their elder years; a process occurs creating a nidus for eventual tooth loss as well as the possibility of intensified, already diagnosed, or clandestine systemic disease states.