Abstract
Lebanon is in demographic transition as more people reach increasingly older age; 10% of the population in Lebanon is elderly. The incidence of chronic diseases and oral diseases increases significantly with age. However, 55% of the elderly have no health insurance and 82% have no dental insurance. Both noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and oral diseases are a major health burden in the country and share the same risk factors. The WHO strategy for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases should therefore be a new approach for the prevention and control of dental diseases among Lebanese elderly. This paper aims to increase the awareness of the medical community in Lebanon about the interrelationship between general and oral health in the elderly and concludes with the need for the Ministry of Health to develop policies and national action plans against NCDs to reduce not only mortality from NCDs but also morbidity from oral diseases.