Geriatric Oral Healthcare Status in India: Challenges, Innovations, and Future Strategies

Abstract Population aging is a global phenomenon. With time, size, and proportion of older population is increasing in the world. Chronic illnesses affect the oral and systemic health of the geriatric population. Thorough knowledge of the oral health status of the elderly population will benefit healthcare professionals for better care. A literature search for the present review was carried out in “PubMed” and “SCOPUS” databases with search terminology “Geriatric oral health” and “Geriatric dentistry.” In addition to this, manual searches were performed for demographic details of the elderly and policies and schemes for the elderly in India. The data regarding the general health conditions of the elderly affecting oral health, age changes in dental tissues, oral health status of geriatric patients in India and other countries, Status of National Oral Health Policy in India, challenges faced, status of gerodontology education in India, innovations, future strategies in geriatric oral health care were extracted from full-text articles and included in the present review. The aim of this review is to describe the status of geriatric oral health care and highlight the challenges faced in geriatric patient management as well as innovations that are transforming geriatric oral health care.