Risk indicators of edentulism, partial tooth loss and prosthetic status among black and white middle-aged and older adults

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and risk indicators of edentulism; t o describe the frequencies of wearing removable dentures; to describe the p revalence and risk indicators of fixed prosthetic restorations; to test the hypothesis that fixed prosthetic restorations are most likely to have been placed in persons at lower risk for dental and periodontal diseases, and t o test the hypothesis that, with dental disease, dental behaviors, dental a ttitudes and ability to afford crowns taken into account, blacks are less l ikely than whites to have received crowns. Methods: The Florida Dental Care Study is a cohort study of subjects 45 years old or older. A telephone scr eening interview was done as a first stage to identify 5254 subjects who me t eligibility requirements and who self-reported whether they were edentulo us. In a second stage, a subsample of dentate subjects was contacted after they completed their telephone screening interview. Of these, 873 subjects completed a baseline in-person inter-view and dental examination. Results: A total of 19% of first-stage subjects were edentulous. In a single multipl e logistic regression, having a poorer self-rated level of general health w as significantly associated with edentulism, as were being poor, older and white. Among the second-stage participants (all of whom were dentate), seve ral prosthetic Patterns were observed. For example, a total of 64% of maxil lary full denture wearers reported wearing their denture all the time. Part icipants had also received numerous fixed prosthodontic services. The propo rtion of subjects with at least one crown varied widely by subject characte ristics. Conclusions: A substantial percentage of non-ideal frequencies of wearing removable prostheses was reported, as were prosthesis-related soren ess and broken prostheses. Although we expected and observed an association between having a fixed prosthetic crown and periodontal status, dental fil lings, dental attitudes and financial resources, a residual association wit h race suggests that blacks are much less likely to receive prosthetic crow ns. The several possible reasons for this circumstance warrant further inve stigation.