One weekly session of oral care can cut a dementia patient’s risk of aspiration pneumonia to one quarter, said Jijun Lim, president of the Korea Dementia Oral Health Association and chief director of Warm Dental Hospital.
He made the remark on Nov. 19 at the 8th Media Academy hosted by the Korea Medical Bio Journalists Association, whose theme was “The Importance of Oral Care for Elderly Health and Care in a Super-Aged Society.”
Lim, a specialist in dental treatment for people with disabilities and dementia, warned that poor oral health worsens overall health and quality of life in old age. He said patients who cannot chew properly risk malnutrition and digestive problems, and that these nutritional deficits can accelerate dementia.
He also noted a biological link: gum inflammation from periodontitis can release inflammatory substances into the bloodstream that raise beta-amyloid levels, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“The more teeth a person loses, the higher the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” Lim said. “Nutritional imbalances caused by difficulties in eating accelerate the progression of dementia. Oral health management is extremely important in elderly care.”
Lim criticized current Korean policy for failing to classify dementia patients as persons with disabilities, which excludes them from extra support such as higher health-insurance reimbursements.
That gap, he said, discourages many dentists from treating dementia patients. While home or nursing-home visits are possible, they are logistically difficult: dentists must transport heavy equipment and treatment chairs.
As a model, Lim pointed to Japan’s long-running “8020 Project,” which aims to keep at least 20 teeth until age 80. He said Japan treats oral care as a national priority, integrates it in long-term care insurance reforms, and rewards local governments and facilities for promoting simple oral-health measures. Thanks to those policies and supports, Lim noted, half of Japanese seniors aged 80 or older still had 20 or more teeth as of 2016.
Lim called on Korea to adopt similar measures: create oral-care education programs for nursing-facility caregivers, expand visiting dental services, and set realistic reimbursements for dentists’ home visits. He also urged the government to raise incentives for oral-health maintenance by reflecting oral care more strongly in nursing-facility evaluation indicators.
“Practical reimbursement for home visits and stronger incentives for facilities are necessary to promote dental care in nursing homes,” Lim said, stressing that policy changes are key to protecting elders’ health and slowing dementia’s progress.