Geriatric dentistry: is rethinking still required? A community-based survey in Indian population.

BACKGROUND: India has a large geriatric population (60 years and above) of 77 million; comprising 7.7% of its total population. Poor oral health and loss of teeth not only adversely affect the dietary intake and nutritional status and thereby compromise general health, but can also deny them the pleasure of eating food of their choice.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of edentulousness, denture wearing and denture needs of the elderly in the community and to study the correlation between oral health parameters and sociodemographic variables which would help us to define better treatment modalities, counselling and thus improve the oral health of our geriatric patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects who were 60 years and above were considered for this study and were randomly selected. Of the 1360 elderly who were enrolled in the study, 780 (57.35%) were males and 580 (42.64%) were female. This sample size is in proportion to the total population for the pilot study. They were given an oral examination and a questionnaire.

RESULTS: Fifty seven percent (57%) of the elderly were not satisfied with their oral health status and function.

CONCLUSION: Complete edentulousness of both the arches was highest in the middle socio-economic group, and was the lowest in the low socio-economic group. Less than 50% of edentulous elderly and only 10% of partially edentulous elderly were wearing dentures.