Edentulousness, denture wear and denture needs of Indian elderly – a community‐based study

Abstract

India has a large geriatric population (60+ years) of 77 millions, comprising 7.7% of its total population. One of the major handicaps in the elderly is loss of teeth, affecting their mastication, dietary intake and nutritional status. The present study was planned to assess the level of edentulousness, denture wearing and denture needs of the elderly in the community and to study the correlation between oral health parameters and socio-demographic variables, diet and body mass index (BMI). A total of 1240 (716 urban and 524 rural) elderly people were studied. It was found that 60% were dissatisfied with their function of mastication because of loss of teeth and lack of dentures. The level of edentulousness was found to be high, more so in rural than in urban people and more so in advancing age, with no significant difference between male and females. The striking finding of this study was the very low level of denture wearing. Only <50% of those needing complete dentures and <13% of those needing partial dentures were wearing dentures. The denture needs of the rural elderly were higher than those of the urban elderly. Vegetarians had a higher level of edentulousness compared with non-vegetarians. The BMI was not correlated with level of edentulousness.

A Study of Assessment of Partial Edentulous Patients Based on Kennedy’s Classification at Dhulikhel Hospital Kathmandu University Hospital

“…This could be a possible reason for female being partially edentulous as they cannot opt for needed treatment to save teeth. 2 Also similar result was found in the study done among the people aged above 65 years in Turkey which also shows low literacy level and female gender to be high-risk groups for tooth loss. 10 Further, it was also observed that more unemployed people were partially edentulous than employed.…”

“…Women have better health seeking behaviors and more conscious for their appearance and this could be one of the main reasons that females are visiting dental clinic more frequently than male. 2 In the present study, Kennedy Class III is more frequent type followed by Class II, Class IV and Class I in the age group 25-50 years. In support to our findings, Shah et al have shown the similar result.…”

“…1 Oral health contributes significantly towards quality of life (QOL). 2 Poor oral health and loss of teeth adversely affect the dietary intake and nutritional status. Which ultimately compromise general health and also deny them the pleasure of taking food of their choice.…”

Relationship Between Prosthodontic Treatment Awareness with Number and Position of Tooth Loss

“…8 In India, the unmet need to replace missing teeth in partially dentate patients was as high as 90% with a large number of elderly citizens having health and dental problems. 2 The unmet need for dental care was relatively high. Recent surveys conducted on the prosthetic status of Indonesian population revealed that only 4,6% people rehabilitate their missing tooth by using some type of prosthesis while others not wearing any.…”

“…1,2 The Indonesian Basic Health Research (RISKESDAS) 2007 showed that in age group of 35-44 years old, the average number of tooth loss or was indicated of extraction (M-T) was considered high which was 2.89 and reaching 3.35 in 2013. There was a tendency to incline percentage of people who had tooth loss along with the increasing age.…”