Serving Our Seniors Magazine April - June 2025

Having healthy teeth and gums does more than keep you for losing your teeth in later life. It also plays a big role in keeping the rest of your body healthy, too. Erie County Dental Health Clinic and Serving Our Seniors are working together to make it affordable for Erie County residents, ages 60+, to see a dentist and get dental care. Although the Erie County Health Department’s Dental Clinic offers a sliding fee scale, that still may not be enough to make it affordable. That is where Serving Our Seniors is here to help YOU. HOW DOES IT WORK? Call Serving Our Seniors and talk to a Senior Advocate Assistant. Together, you and the Senior Advocate Assistant (419-624-1856) will figure out the amount that is affordable for you to pay to the Erie County Health Department’s Dental Clinic. Serving Our Seniors will pay the rest. Don’t wait until you have a toothache to seek the help of a dentist. Let Serving Our Seniors help you, before it becomes that serious. If you are age 65 or older, statistically, you have a 25% chance of falling as you continue to grow older. According to the National Institute on Aging, many older adults fear falling, even if they have not fallen before. This causes a lifestyle of inactivity, which causes older legs to become weaker and robs older adults of their ability to be sure-footed as they grow older. The National Institute on Aging has this advice on how to get up, safely, after a fall. Stay Put & Breathe – Remain still and get over the shock of falling. Decide if you are hurt. Getting up too quickly or incorrectly can make an injury worse. Crawl to a sturdy chair – This will be explained and demonstrated at the upcoming forum along with other tactics on how to return to a standing position, after falling. The forum, entitled, I’ve Fallen and I CAN Get Up, April 17, 2025, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.. It will take place at the Erie County Senior Center, 620 E. Water Street, Sandusky. Serving Our Seniors’ Health Care Advocate Trainer, Tina Sluga and Tim Albrethsen, Physical Therapist, Firelands Health, will host the forum. Tim will discuss falling in later life. With Tina’s help, the two will actively demonstrate what the 60+ age group ought to know, so they CAN get up after a fall. Advanced registration is required. See page 5 for details on how to register. Dental Care That You CAN Afford Let us help you keep your teeth, as you grow older. I Have Fallen and I CAN Get Up 7