Over 45’s need ‘rehabilitation’ work from their dentist

Professor Jimmy Steele, Head of the Dental Sciences School at Newcastle University, today predicted that 25% of people aged 45 years and over will need what he called ‘rehabilitation work’ from their dentist, by which he seems to mean more extensive dental treatment than just simple fillings, preventative treatment and hygienist visits.

This certainly concurs with our experience at Ock Street Clinic in Abingdon, Oxford, where we provide thousands of people with their routine and general dentistry. We know that the younger generations (under 40’s) have much lower needs for restorative dentistry and fewer existing fillings in their mouths, and this group of patients may need more focus on preventative dentistry than older generations where we spend more effort saving teeth with fillings, crowns, root fillings and periodontal treatment.

Professor Steele authored a key government report into dental health in 2009 and is a well known opponent of the six month dental examination for everybody across the board, instead he advocates a risk-based approach for setting the next visit date. At Ock Street Dental, for several years we have operated variable recall intervals for patients depending on their personal and unique risk factors, as well as advising patients on their need to see the Hygienist, again depending on their personal situation.