Total tooth loss and complete denture use in older adults with intellectual disabilities in Ireland.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to describe the reported dentate status and complete denture use of older people with intellectual disability (ID) and compare with those of older people in the general population in Ireland.

METHODS

The first wave of the Intellectual Disability Supplement to The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (IDS-TILDA) study provides opportunity to measure edentulism and complete denture use in a nationally representative sample of older people with ID in Ireland. Data drawn from the first wave of IDS-TILDA were matched using propensity score matching with data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a study among older adults in Ireland. All IDS-TILDA variables showing significant association (P < 0.05) with edentulism were entered into a regression model to identify predictors of edentulism.

RESULT

The proportion of the 478 IDS-TILDA participants with no teeth was higher (34.1 percent) than the proportion of participants with no teeth in the 478 matched TILDA participants (14.9 percent). Only age was predictive of edentulism among older adults with ID. Edentulism was prevalent earlier for those with ID. Notably, 61.3 percent of edentulous older people with ID were without dentures.

CONCLUSION

Older people with ID are more likely to be edentulous than those without ID in Ireland and when they lose their teeth, they are unlikely to use dentures. This suggests a need for targeted measures to maintain the teeth of this group and, in the short term, the provision of replacement teeth in this population, where indicated.