TOOTH LOSS AND CHEWING CAPACITY AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN ADELAIDE

This study aimed to identify sociodemographic factors associated with edentulism (loss of all teeth) and the average number of teeth lost an d to investigate relationships between tooth loss and chewing capacity . Data were obtained in 1991-92 from a cross-sectional oral epidemiolo gical survey of Adelaide residents aged 60+ years. Interviews with 116 0 participants provided information on edentulism while oral examinati ons among 560 dentate participants and 313 edentulous participants pro vided information on the number of missing teeth. People were asked if they could chew or bite six common foods. Some 41.1 per cent of perso ns were edentulous, and nearly half the natural. teeth (mean 15.2) wer e missing among dentate people. Multivariate analyses revealed higher rates of edentulism (P less than or equal to 0.05) for people who were older, female, Australian-born, or holders of pensioner health benefi t cards, and for people who left school at an early age, or who did no t own their residence. Among dentate people there were more (P less th an or equal to 0.05) missing teeth among those who were older, Austral ian-born, health benefit card holders, and who left-school at an early age. Some 37.9 per cent of people reported difficulty chewing at leas t one food, although 57 per cent of dentate people and virtually all e dentulous people wore dentures. Difficulty chewing was associated with tooth loss: 6.1 per cent of people with fewer than nine missing teeth reported difficulty compared with S8.6 per cent of edentulous people (P < 0.01). The findings show substantially compromised oral health am ong older adults, particularly the eldest-old and disadvantaged groups .