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ePaper created 2017-10-26, 15:28:59 | version 1.38.0
Fossilised teeth cast doubt over Prevention before intervention in the Humans’ arrival in South East Asia Oral care of older patients South East Asia is a key region for understanding the human dispersal out of Africa and down to Australia. According to recent fossil teeth findings by researchers from the University of Queensland in Brisbane and Macquarie University in Sydney, this migration towards Australia may have occurred 20,000 years earlier than previously thought. In a video posted online, the scientists follow the footsteps of Eugène Dubois, the paleoanthropologist famous for his discovery of “Java Man” (Homo erectus). In the Sumatran region of Indonesia, they reenter a cave site called Lida Ajer, where in the late 1800s the Dutchman collected fossil teeth from other hominins. According to Dr Gilbert Price of the University of Queensland’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Du- bois’s recovery of the human teeth was in itself very interesting, but no one had spent much time trying to determine its significance. However, after an in-depth documentation of the cave and reanalysis of the specimens using a new dating pro- gramme, it was confirmed that the teeth came from modern humans, Homo sapiens, and most interest- ingly that they dated to as long as 73,000 years ago. In a twist that may become a con- tentious topic at a later date, the findings from the study also sug- gest humans could have potentially made the crossing to Australia even earlier than the accepted 60,000 to 65,000 years ago. © Tanya Smith and Rokus Awe Due © George Rudy/Shutterstock.com In light of the ageing population, dentists need to be aware of the risks of multifactorial oral health problems in elderly patients. A recent article has recommended a maximum interception approach involving all members of the healthcare team and promoting evidence-based self-care. Dental professionals must be prepared for the sheer number of older pa- tients, especially among the baby boomers (the generation born between 1946 and 1964), retaining their natural teeth for longer, stated article au- thor Prof. Laurence J. Walsh, University of Queensland, Australia. Particular problems include root surface caries in patients with a strong history of cor- onal caries and those who suddenly develop salivary hypofunction. Further- more, elderly patients suffer from more chronic diseases and are medically more complex. Older patients sometimes cannot maintain sufficient oral health, owing to a decline of fine motor skills and reduced sight. Hence, Walsh advised a mul- tidisciplinary approach with doctors, nurses and carers working together to provide good oral health for patients living in long-term care facilities. A key message must promote oral health as part of overall health, he said. AD