In our last article “Now is the Time”, we addressed the overarching need for seniors to pursue the appropriate dental treatment at the proper time.  Dental disease is for the most part chronic and progressive.  Therefore, delays in treatment all too often trade simple and predictable options today for those with more expense and less benefit in the future  This is especially troubling in the senior population, as delayed dental treatment can be further compromised by declining general health.  For that reason, even the very same treatment pursued at a later date can often times have less favorable outcomes.  Potential benefits can be significantly reduced when undertaken in the same person who by then has developed complicating general health issues.  Today we should address in more detail a common reason that a person might delay necessary treatment. 

Time….who has enough?  In the fast paced society we live in, it seems to be the one commodity that none of us has enough of.  We all feel a significant strain due to the time demands that our life places on us.  We have the family responsibilities of children, spouses and parents.  They depend on us for a multitude of needs.  There are commitments to our neighborhoods and communities…involvement in civic organizations, churches and other faith based associations, service clubs, volunteer and support groups.  In the current climate of expanding and irresponsible government, many of us feel called to political activity.  We have the responsibilities of maintenance and upkeep of our places of residence, and the simple demands of day to day living.  Many of us have the added burden of a career and the need to create household income during our present economic downturn.  I am continually amazed at how busy we truly are….especially our seniors.

Today’s seniors are more active than ever imagined.  One would think that at their point in life a little slowing down would be in order, but that is not the case!  I am continually amazed at how involved and productive that segment of the population is, at how much they contribute to our society…and how hampered for time that they are.  I can understand how a person may not feel they have the luxury of enough time to address basic personal needs, such as adequate dental care.

If that is your perspective let me encourage you to reconsider. 

First of all, modern dentistry does not take as much time as one might assume.  As opposed to times past, vast amounts of data can be efficiently collected and compiled using contemporary digital technology. State-of-the-art diagnostics help to accurately and conditions.  Modern materials and procedures can be focused directly at even significant problems, eliminating previously cumbersome and time consuming treatment regimes.  Outcomes are generally more predictably favorable and require less follow up treatment.  Even in more involved cases that evolve over extended periods of time, for example the surgical and prosthetic phases of implant reconstruction, the relative amount of time spent in a dental office is usually not that great.