Oral functional limitation among dentate adults

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.