Oral health status of the elderly in a residential home in Turkey.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the oral health status and treatment needs of elderly residents of a residential home in Ankara, Turkey.

BACKGROUND

Little is known about oral health problems of elderly living in the institutions.

METHODS

Among 216 elderly, 193 of them were interviewed and were clinically examined according to WHO criteria. Age, gender, educational and occupational status, oral hygiene practices, dental insurance, access to dental care and systemic diseases were recorded using a structured questionnaire. Coronal and root caries, periodontal disease, dental status and related treatment needs were assessed by two calibrated dentists.

RESULTS

The mean age of the subjects were 75.2 +/- 8.3 in males, 79.1 +/- 7.9 in females; 32.6% of subjects were dentate and the mean number of teeth was 3.7 +/- 7.0 (median = 0). A functional dentition was present in 7.3% of subjects (>or=20). The mean decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) was 29.3 +/- 5.8 (median = 32) and mean root caries was 2.2 +/- 3.1 (median = 1.0). The major reason for tooth extraction was dental caries. Of the subjects, 20.7% had at least one untreated coronal caries and 18.1% root caries. The assessment of periodontal status according to CPI revealed that only four persons had nine healthy sextants with the score of '0'. Edentulousness was 67.4% while 11.9% of them lacked denture in both jaws.

CONCLUSION

The results illustrated poor dental health and showed extremely high demand for the dental health services programmes for the elderly living in these institutions.