Abstract
Polypharmacy is a problem in the clinical practice of elderly medical care. Symptoms caused by polypharmacy are diverse, including falls and deterioration of cognitive function, as well as dysphagia. Textbooks state that neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease are common causes of swallowing disorder, but there are unexpectedly many drug-induced swallowing disorders in the field of elderly medical care.
Typical medicines that cause drug-induced swallowing disorders are sleep-related drugs such as sleep medication, anxiolytics, and antipsychotic drugs. Dentists working in the field of dental sleep medicine are in a good position to treat such disorders because they have knowledge of which sleep-related drugs are likely to cause swallowing disorders, and which drugs do not affect swallowing disorders while improving sleep disorders.
Dentists specializing in sleeping dentistry are important for managing drug-induced swallowing disorders in cooperation with prescription physicians. Dental sleep medicine may have an important role to play in treating polypharmacy.
