An Epidemiological Investigation of State of Occlusal Support in Fujian

Objective:To investigate the state of occlusal support among middle-aged and the elder people in Fujian province and to provide a scientific basis for raising the oral health-related quality for them. Methods:The methods of poly-stage, layering, isasteric and randomize sampling were used in the investigation. 36 villages from 6 cities were examined in the epidemiological investigation. From every village, the examiners collected the information about the state of occlusal support of 40 people randomly (20 from 35 to 44-year-old, the other 20 from 65 to 74-year-old). Results:For middle-age people, the occluding tooth pairs were 12.90 on average in urban in Fujian province. 98.06% of them had more than 8 occluding teeth pairs. The rate of complete occlusion was 54.31% and it was 59.44% for molars and premolars. The rate of complete occlusion,the occluding tooth pairs on average for dentition and molars in suburb were higher than in urban for middle age people. In the elder , the occluding tooth pairs were 6.19. 29.86% of the examined had no occlusion in their mouth. 44.72% of the examined old person had 8 or more occluding teeth pairs. The occluding tooth pairs on average were 2.90 for old people and only 10.69% of them had complete occlusion. The rate of complete occlusion of old males was higher than old females. Other indexes had no statistical significant difference ,either in urban and suburb or in male and female. Conclusion:The state of occlusal support in the elder was far lower than that in the middle-age. It was more than half of elderly in Fujian province. whose occlusal support function were not acceptable.. It is necessary to propagate oral health knowledge, especially in old person. We should protect and improve the state of occlusal support to raise the oral health-related quality for them.