IADR Abstract Archives
Oral Health Status and Oral Hygiene Practice among Disabled Elderly People
Objectives: Most countries are facing the challenge of population aging. Taiwan is actually experiencing a world second highest rate of population aging among her 23 million population. The purpose of the study was to survey the oral health status and oral hygiene practice among elderly people in institutions of Taipei City, Taiwan.
Methods: Disabled elderly people aged 65 or over and living in institutions in Taipei City were invited to participate in a survey of oral health status and oral hygiene practice. After receiving their written informed consent, a structured questionnaire was filled by their main carer, and a standardized oral health examination performed by trained dentists. Ethical approval was obtained from the IRB of National Yang-Ming University (YM103079E).
Results: Nine hundred and fifty-three disabled elderly people aged 65+ (mean±SD = 83.3±7.9) took part in this study. Fifty-six percent of them were female, and BMI ranged between 12.9 and 34.6. The number of teeth remained in their mouth ranged from 0 to 32, with mean±SD = 11.0±9.6. Among those who were not edentulous, less than 20% of them were free from coronal caries. Nearly a third of them had more than half of their remaining teeth decayed. The situation was even worse for root caries. Multivariate analysis showed that using fluoridated toothpaste was an independent predictor for crown and root caries, adjusted for age, sex, and severity of disability (P=0.008 and P=0.022, respectively).
Conclusions: Oral health is essential for enjoying quality life, and this certainly also applies to those disabled elderly people in institutions. Our data indicated that they suffered from poor oral health, and using fluoridated toothpaste was associated with the severity of caries. More longitudinal data are needed to further explore the true relationships.
Methods: Disabled elderly people aged 65 or over and living in institutions in Taipei City were invited to participate in a survey of oral health status and oral hygiene practice. After receiving their written informed consent, a structured questionnaire was filled by their main carer, and a standardized oral health examination performed by trained dentists. Ethical approval was obtained from the IRB of National Yang-Ming University (YM103079E).
Results: Nine hundred and fifty-three disabled elderly people aged 65+ (mean±SD = 83.3±7.9) took part in this study. Fifty-six percent of them were female, and BMI ranged between 12.9 and 34.6. The number of teeth remained in their mouth ranged from 0 to 32, with mean±SD = 11.0±9.6. Among those who were not edentulous, less than 20% of them were free from coronal caries. Nearly a third of them had more than half of their remaining teeth decayed. The situation was even worse for root caries. Multivariate analysis showed that using fluoridated toothpaste was an independent predictor for crown and root caries, adjusted for age, sex, and severity of disability (P=0.008 and P=0.022, respectively).
Conclusions: Oral health is essential for enjoying quality life, and this certainly also applies to those disabled elderly people in institutions. Our data indicated that they suffered from poor oral health, and using fluoridated toothpaste was associated with the severity of caries. More longitudinal data are needed to further explore the true relationships.