At the USC Orofacial Pain/Oral Medicine Center, 1,049 new patients seen from September 2003 to September 2005 were sorted according to their primary diagnosis. Two-thirds were female and 19.7% were over 64 years of age. The most prevalent diseases were categorized and compared with a similar study published 15 years ago. The seven categories included osseous disease (3.3%), mucogingival disease (17.8%), salivary/lymphatic disease (3.3%), TMD (46.3%); neuropathic pain/headache disorders (13.1%), motor/sleep disorders (9.1%), and miscellaneous (not included in above categories) (7.1%). The 35 most frequent diagnoses were sorted by the mean age of our patients and the male-female ratio was also determined. The oldest patients had burning mouth syndrome (68.1 +/- 14.7) and the youngest had internal derangements of the temporomandibular joints (27.9 +/- 14.0). These data could be used to provide information on the scope of oral medicine practice, to help practitioners create age-appropriate differential diagnoses, and to help dental school curriculum committees and graduate program directors assess their curricula to ensure they are including the full range of oral conditions in their programs.
Despite its importance for health and wellbeing, oral health quality of life (OHQoL) has received little attention in lower-income countries, such as Colombia. This study describes the prevalence of older adults’ OHQoL and variability by socioeconomic status. We use data from the 2015 SABE-Colombia (N=18,700), a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling Colombians ages 60 and older. We used the Simple Count Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (SC-GOHAI), a self-reported measure of frequent oral health problems such as chewing, swallowing, and speaking designed to assess OHQoL. The scale ranges from 0-12; higher scores indicate worse OHQoL. About 69% of older Colombians reported at least one OHQoL problem. The most common issues were difficulty chewing hard food and speaking. High education and income were associated with better OHQoL and smoking were associated with worse OHQoL. Oral health may therefore reflect another dimension of social and health inequality for older Colombians.
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