Evaluating oral and dental problems in the elderly in Torbat-e Heydarieh: 2016-2017

Background: Aging produces biological and functional changes in tissues like tooth decay due to loss of oral health, causing changes in patterns of food intake that reduces quality of life in this period. By identifying factors associated with dental problems, appropriate intervention curriculum can be designed for the elderly.Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the samples were taken randomly from the elderlies living in Torbat-e Heydarieh (n= 450). Data were collected using questionnaires and oral examination by the dentist and a colleague for 4 months and analyzed using SPSS (version 19) and independent T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation.Results: Of all elderlies, 48.9% were male and 55.1% female. 55.1% were from rural and 44.9% urban areas (mean age=70.3 ± 8.57 years old). 256 individuals equal to 56.9% of cases were completely edentulous and 43.1% had other problems such as tooth wear, oral mucosal lesions, etc. There was no significant relationship between sex, place of living, income, education, nutrition and being toothless. Important outcome in most cases with dental caries was related to difficulty in chewing. A statistically significant relationship was observed (f=2.35, p=0.025) between use and non-use of toothbrush and edentulous and oral lesions. During past one year, only 16.4% of cases had gone to dentistry. Conclusion: Dental care in young and middle age is the most important factor for good tooth health in old age. So education and care in different life periods reduce indicator of edentulous as the most important dental status indicator in the elderly.

Keywords:

Dental Caries , Aged , Torbat-E Heydarieh