engleski

Oral health among institutionalised elderly in Zagreb, Croatia

OBJECTIVE: A survey of dental health status was conducted in the institutionalized elderly in Zagreb, Croatia in order to assess the dental and oral health of the elderly population. PARTICIPANTS: In 139 institutionalised elderly from a single nursing home in Zagreb, dental and oral status was registered according to World Health Organization criteria. There were 108 (77.7 %) female and 31 (22.3 %) male subjects aged 58 to 99 years. RESULTS – Our results show that 45.3% of the interviewed persons were totally edentulous in both jaws. A significant increase in prevalence of edentulousness with the increasing age was recorded. The mean decayed, missing and filled teeth number was 27. The average number of teeth with caries was 1.03 per person, the number of the teeth extracted was 6.9 per person and teeth with fillings 0.74 per person. The average number of teeth with root caries is 0.17. Approximately 9 teeth per person are in the need for treatment. Out of all subjects, 25.9% have filled teeth and 30.9% have decayed teeth. The mean number of remaining sound teeth, decayed teeth and residual roots in the elderly decreased with increasing age. Complete periodontal treatment is needed in 5.8% of the participants and no significant differences between genders in periodontal status could be noticed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest poor dental health in this group of the institutionalized elderly and the necessity of improving and implementing some special features in the dental health services programs for the institutionalised elderly.

oral health ; institutionalised elderly

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