SATISFACTION WITH REDUCED DENTITIONS IN ELDERLY PEOPLE

Natural dentitions of elderly people are often reduced and the remaini ng teeth are heavily restored. It is unknown whether they are satisfie d or dissatisfied with this situation. To get more insight into this p henomenon 320 dentate non-institutionalized elderly subjects were clin ically examined and interviewed by means of a questionnaire. Analysis of the data showed that only 13% of the subjects had at least a comple te dentition from the right first molar to the left first molar; 50% h ad less than four occlusal units, 39% of the subjects were wearing a r emovable partial denture. Ninety per cent of the subjects was satisfie d with the dental state and nearly all subjects mentioned they could c hew well (97%), despite the fact that 91% of the subjects mentioned th ey had to deal with one or more dental discomforts. Satisfaction decre ased significantly when the number of the occlusal units was reduced o r a removable partial denture was present. The conclusion is drawn tha t although the dentitions of the elderly are often reduced they are, i n general, satisfied with their dental state.