Talk at Newcastle University event on Ageing

#Dentistry24 is celebration of the Dental profession around the world on 24th May. With dental caries currently the most prevalent disease of man and periodontitis the 11th most prevalent disease, there is clearly an urgent need for dental research to find new solutions to improve global oral health.

Yesterday, I attended a local ‘CONNECT’ event at Newcastle University on the global research challenges associated with ageing. It was fantastic to see the breadth of research activities at the University on this topic from the arts to social sciences and biological/biomedical science. My 3-minute talk on oral health seemed to resonate with many of the people there – some of whom had visited developing countries and witnessed for themselves the state of oral health amongst the elderly populations.

Periodontitis (gum disease) is perhaps the most obvious issue for ageing populations, since there is a clear correlation with age. Loss of teeth due to periodontitis can lead to difficulty eating and result in nutritional deficiency. Also, there are links between periodontitis and systemic conditions such as diabetes and (with a weaker evidence base) rheumatoid arthritis. It is clear that we need a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle the challenges of healthy ageing around the world. I am looking forward to new collaborations to take this forward and try to make a real difference to global (oral) health…