Learn about "oral frailty" so that you don't become bedridden

July 26, 2019

Have you heard about ultra-early symptoms of ageing? What is “oral frailty”?

You need to be careful if you’ve been consistently experiencing symptoms such as choking while eating, spilling food more frequently, not being able to chew hard items or being unable to speak smoothly. This may be due to “oral frailty” (reduction in oral function).
This is the state of feeling your age physically and mentally, although you don’t require extra care from others. This intermediate stage between being healthy and requiring nursing is called “frailty (decline)”. One of the symptoms of frailty that occurs relatively early is this “oral frailty”. Even if you’re still relatively healthy, we all need to take preventative measures and recognise the symptoms of “oral frailty”, which is one of the signs of ageing, in order to maintain a healthy and independent lifestyle.

What happens if you ignore your “oral frailty”?

If you ignore the condition, you may end up losing your healthy teeth, limiting your food options, and also experiencing nutritional imbalance and malnutrition.

Among the main consequences of ‘oral frailty’, we can experience poor nutrition as a result of the deterioration of overall muscle mass, interference in daily living due to the decline of the musculoskeletal system. Eventually, you might also become self-conscious about your oral condition, which may ultimately inhibit your ability to participate proactively in society.

What’s important to prevent “oral frailty” are as follows: ① constantly maintain a clean oral environment, and ② maintain your oral functions. Let’s raise our awareness and start living a healthy oral lifestyle today by removing dental plaque via appropriate brushing and periodic dental examinations, and adopting positive habits like determining a set time every day to conduct oral exercises, such as while bathing or after brushing teeth.