Dental status and treatment needs of a New Zealand institutionalised elderly population.

A survey of 359 elderly residents of rest homes and geriatric hospitals in the Manawatu and Horowhenua districts showed that approximately two-thirds were aged 80 or over, and 19.5 percent were dentate, with a mean 13.3 teeth per dentate subject. A mean of 4.6 teeth per dentate subject had caries of either the crown or root, or both. Older males had substantially higher extraction requirements than other subjects. The periodontal needs of the sample were generally low and dominated by the need for calculus removal.