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Nearly half of Ontarians 65 or older didn’t visit a dentist in the past year.
This information comes from the St. Michael’s Hospital, Women’s College Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. The impact could be devastating because the poor oral health of these people may lead to their overall health deteriorating.
This data my force Canada to reconsider the way the country’s universal healthcare system treats senior citizens.
Since women comprise much of the older population, there are more women in this group than men. These women are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions and have reported more disability and lingering pain issues.
If possible, these women need to find a way to be more physically active. More importantly, if they ate more fruits and vegetables, they would see their health improve.
The researchers focused on women and created an in-depth report of the Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report. This is the first study in the province to provide such a detailed report on the health of women.
Some of the information from this report includes the fact that 60 percent of older women were physically active compared to only 48 percent of men. Less than 45 percent of older adults did anything to make their overall health better in the last year. Around two out of three women 80 and older claimed they had functional limitations. One third of low-income women reported some type of pain.
Many of these issues can be limited or solved with more trips to the dentist.
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