Sociomedical and behavioural aspects of dental care for the elderly: statement of the problem

In providing dental care for the elderly, dynamic changes in disease states and population groups must be recognized. These are creating a need for the dental profession to address itself to the increasing complexity of dental treatment required for ageing populations. The existence of different populations of elderly has implications for geriatric dentistry. There are similarities between the problems in countries with ageing populations, isolated from society, and the problems in countries without such populations, but with the problem of accessing other isolated populations.