Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, PO Box 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Department of General Practice & Elderly Care Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9700 RB, Groningen, the Netherlands.
BMC Geriatr. 2021 Sep 4;21(1):477. doi: 10.1186/s12877-021-02427-z.
Cross-sectional studies have shown that elderly with a natural dentition have better general health than edentulous elderly, but this has not been confirmed in studies with longitudinal design.
This prospective longitudinal study with a follow-up of 8 years aimed to assess differences in general health, healthcare costs and dental care use between elderly with a natural dentition and edentulous elderly wearing implant-retained or conventional dentures. Based on data of all national insurance claims for dental and medical care from Dutch elderly (aged ≥75 years) general health outcomes (chronic conditions, medication use), healthcare costs and dental care use could be assessed of three groups of elderly, viz. elderly with a natural dentition, elderly with conventional dentures and elderly with implant-retained overdentures.
At baseline (2009), a total of 168,122 elderly could be included (143,199 natural dentition, 18,420 conventional dentures, 6503 implant-retained overdentures). Here we showed that after 8 years follow-up elderly with a natural dentition had more favorable general health outcomes (fewer chronic conditions, less medication use), lower healthcare costs and lower dental costs - but higher dental care use - than edentulous elderly. At baseline the general health of elderly with an implant-retained overdentures resembled the profile of elderly with a natural dentition, but over time their general health problems became comparable to elderly with conventional dentures.
It was concluded that elderly with a natural dentition had significant better health and lower healthcare costs compared to edentulous elderly (with or without dental implants).
横断面研究表明，与无牙老年人相比，天然牙列的老年人整体健康状况更好，但这一结论尚未在具有纵向设计的研究中得到证实。
本前瞻性纵向研究随访 8 年，旨在评估天然牙列和戴用种植体支持或传统可摘义齿的无牙老年人之间的一般健康、医疗保健费用和牙科保健使用的差异。基于荷兰所有≥75 岁老年人的牙科和医疗保健全民保险索赔数据，可以评估三组老年人的一般健康结果（慢性疾病、药物使用）、医疗保健费用和牙科保健使用情况，即天然牙列老年人、传统可摘义齿老年人和种植体支持覆盖义齿老年人。
在基线（2009 年）时，共纳入了 168122 名老年人（143199 名天然牙列、18420 名传统可摘义齿、6503 名种植体支持覆盖义齿）。结果显示，经过 8 年的随访，与无牙老年人相比，天然牙列老年人具有更有利的一般健康结果（较少的慢性疾病，较少的药物使用）、较低的医疗保健费用和较低的牙科费用，但牙科保健使用更高。在基线时，种植体支持覆盖义齿老年人的一般健康状况与天然牙列老年人相似，但随着时间的推移，他们的一般健康问题变得与传统可摘义齿老年人相似。
与无牙老年人（无论是否有种植牙）相比，天然牙列的老年人具有显著更好的健康状况和更低的医疗保健费用。
