Age is just a number

I work in an area where a lot of my patients are elderly. I regularly hear ‘Oh, don't get old’ as another elderly patient struggles to get off the chair in the waiting room. There are those who have complex medical histories and are on so many different medications, all they can tell me is something like ‘there are four tablets in the morning, one pink one at lunch and then the other one in the evening’. Often, these patients do not know what tablets are treating what conditions and cannot remember the names of many of them. This scenario is counteracted by those patients who are in their 80s but seem far sprightlier than me when they come in for their 9.30am appointment. Essentially, age is just a number and the term ‘elderly’ should be used with caution but, for the purposes of this article, we will look at the dental nurse's role in caring for the elderly patients who are feeling the wear and tear of life on their bodies and their teeth.