How dental conditions handicap the elderly.

A sociodental investigation was carried out among 254 elderly people living at home in Nottinghamshire. The aim of the inquiry was to ascertain whether this group of people were handicapped by their dental conditions. The dental status of the sample was generally poor. 74% were edentulous and the condition of the full dentures worn by many of the subjects was unsatisfactory. A high proportion (59%) of the subjects had lesions of the oral mucosa. Many members of the sample were orally handicapped, either functionally or socially. 32% complained of oral pain and 30% claimed to have difficulty chewing. Also, subjects were embarrassed by the appearance of their teeth and by their dentures dropping during social contact. The perception of handicap, however, was not strongly related to dental status.