Record Detail

Age is the single greatest risk factor for many diseases, including oral diseases. Despite this, a majorityof preclinical oral health research has not adequately considered the importance of aging in research aimedat the mechanistic understanding of oral disease. Here,we have attempted to provide insights from animalstudies in the geroscience field and apply them in the context of oral health research. In particular, we discuss the relationship between the biology of aging and mech-anisms of oral disease. We also present a framework for defining and utilizing age-appropriate rodents and pres-ent experimental design considerations, such as the number of age-points used and the importance of genet-ic background. While focused primarily on rodent models, alternative animal models that may be particu-larly useful for studies of oral health during aging, suchas companion dogs and marmoset monkeys, are alsodiscussed. We hope that such information will aid in the design of future preclinical studies of geriatric dentalhealth, thus allowing more reliability for translation ofsuch studies to age-associated oral disease in people.