Vieillissement des muqueuses buccales : aspects fondamentaux et cliniques

Oral ecosystem changes during aging that induces perturbations of bacterial microflora, a decrease of saliva protective function and a tissular fragility particularly of the gingival tissues. Older people are characterized by an immunosenescence which causes a decrease in the host response against micro-organisms and an increase in the autoimmune diseases. Whereas the impact of each of these factors is not totally determined, their effects induce, in the elderly patients, an increase of gingival pathologies and in a general manner an increase of the pathologies of oral mucosa. This paper describes successively the fundamental knowledge about the senescence of the gingival tissues and their clinical and pathological consequences.