Elderly Dental Patients with Renal Diseases

Increasing life expectancy affects the enlargement of elderly dental patients. Elderly are affect usually by one or few chronic diseases and have physiological changes following their age. Changes in the oral cavity have 90% of patients with chronic renal disease on soft tissues and alveolar bone. Gingival hyperplasia as one of the side effects of drug administration is one of the most commonly described oral manifestations in patients with kidney failure. Patients in the final phase of kidney failure tend to have bleeding, so it is advisable to perform dental procedures in the days between dialysis. It is advisable to do the blood test and a small coagulogram before oral surgery procedures and good local hemostasis-compression and suture, if needed, after the procedure. As a part of renal osteodystrophy, demineralization, trabecularity and loss of the maxillary and mandibular cortical bone, bone damage (bone fractures) during dental surgery (tooth extraction) may occurs. The proper maintaining of oral hygiene in elderly patients is emphasize to avoid general health and chronical renal illness complications.

Keywords: elderly, oral health, coagulogram, renal diseases, gingival hyperplasia.