Self-Reported Oral Health Among Elders At Risk in Community Setting

“Methods:” 60 participants of age 60 years and above from the Oral Health in Community: At-Risk Elder Population Screening Study were recruited from 4 randomized selected nursing homes. All the residents had Medicare/Mass Health, thus focusing on high needs/low income population with limited dental access. Participants were interviewed with semi structured questionnaire regarding their socio-demographics, self perceived general and oral health. They also received a visual tactile examination for assessing clinical oral health. The study was funded by NIDCR-RC2DE020759.

“Results:” We examined 60 participants (66.6% males and 33.3% females) with mean age of 82.51 years. We found that almost 41.6% of the participants had acute treatment need for follow up. Among those who needed acute treatment, 44% (9.64± 2.33) of the residents were found to report poor oral health and 52% (3.28± .23) were found to have missing teeth that need to be replaced. We found that self reported general health has been significantly associated with self reported oral health among this population (p <.001). 80% of the residents who reported poor general health had reported poor oral health. It appeared that as age increased, the residents were more likely to report poor oral health (OR= 1.04). Those who were more educated seemed to report poor oral health (OR= 1.20).

“Conclusion:” We found an urgent unmet acute dental treatment need for this vulnerable population. Self reported oral health is associated with self reported general health.