A. Joshi et al., CONSEQUENCES OF SUCCESS - DO MORE TEETH TRANSLATE INTO MORE DISEASE AND UTILIZATION, Journal of public health dentistry, 56(4), 1996, pp. 190-197
Citations number
23
Categorie Soggetti
Dentistry,Oral Surgery & Medicine","Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath
Objectives: Increased tooth retention coupled with increased numbers o
f older adults means that the actual number of teeth at risk to dental
disease will increase sharply. Whether this increase in the number of
teeth will translate into more disease and utilization in unknown. Th
e purpose of this study was to test this ''more teeth, therefore more
dental disease'' theory using cross-sectional data. Methods: In-home p
ersonal interview and oral examination data were obtained on a probabi
lity sample of elders aged 70 years and older living in the six New En
gland states using the Medicare beneficiary list as a sampling frame.
Data on dental utilization, number of teeth, dental caries, and period
ontal disease were included in the current analysis, Results: Analysis
of variance on subjects with 1-10 (Group 1), 11-24 (Group 2), and 25-
32 (Group 3) teeth show that the extent of bleeding on probing, pocket
depth, and loss of attachment all increase as numbers of teeth increa
se. Similarly, a greater number of restored coronal and root surfaces
were found in Group 3 relative to the other two groups. Mean numbers o
f decayed and filled coronal surfaces were 8.4 in Group 1, 33.0 in Gro
up 2, and 50.3 in Group 3. In contrast, unrestored coronal and root su
rfaces were significantly higher in Group 1 (mean root DS=1.3) than Gr
oup 3 (mean root DS=0.3). Utilization patterns of those with successfu
l aging dentitions (Group 3) show that they are visiting dentists more
frequently than the compromised group (Group 1). Conclusions: These c
ross-sectional data obtained from a probability sample of New England
elders show that subjects who retained higher numbers of teeth have mo
re periodontal disease and dental caries experience, and visit the den
tist more frequently.