Objectives: The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of oral
functional limitation in adults and to identify clinical and sociodemograp
hic factors associated with that limitation. Methods: The Florida Dental Ca
re Study is a longitudinal study of risk factors for changes in oral health
. Subjects (n=873) with at least one tooth who were 45 years old or older p
articipated in a baseline in-person interview and dental examination. Subje
cts were queried about oral functional limitations. Results: Twenty-three p
ercent of subjects reported difficulty chewing one or more foods using a fi
ve-item chewing index, and 10 percent reported difficulty speaking or prono
uncing words because of problems with the mouth. The covariates in a multip
le logistic regression identified as being significantly associated with ch
ewing difficulty were fewer pairs of occluding anterior teeth, fewer pairs
of occluding posterior teeth, more posterior teeth that are root tips, more
anterior teeth that are mobile, reporting tooth pain, reporting bad breath
, having but not wearing prosthetic appliances, reporting dry mouth, and be
ing female. Having fewer anterior teeth, reporting a sore and/or broken den
ture, reporting unattractive teeth, and being black were significantly asso
ciated with speaking difficulty/difficulty pronouncing words because of pro
blems with the teeth, mouth, or dentures. Conclusions: The findings in this
study suggest a significant prevalence of oral functional limitation in de
ntate adults. Certain clinical and sociodemographic factors were strongly a
nd independently associated with its presence.