Common oral conditions in the elderly.

As the proportion of elderly persons in the population increases, physicians will more frequently see patients with the oral lesions that commonly occur in this group. Periodontal disease represents the most common cause of tooth loss in the elderly. Dentures can create several problems, including traumatic ulceration, denture stomatitis, inflammatory papillary hyperplasia and epulis fissurata. Erythroplakia, rather than leukoplakia, is the most common precursor of oral carcinoma in elderly persons.