Oral Health in Elders with Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate objectively and subjectively the oral health of elders with Parkinson's disease (PD), using clinical oral assessments and the General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). Subjects included 37 removable prosthesis wearers, 17 with PD (mean age 69.59±5.09 years) and 20 without PD (mean age 72.00±5.69 years). The objective assessment included an evaluation of oral characteristics, including the number of remaining teeth, decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT), visible plaque index (VPI), salivary flow rate and removable prosthesis conditions. The subjective assessment included self-perception of oral health collected using the GOHAI index. The number of remaining teeth, DMFT, VPI, salivary flow rate and GOHAI data were compared between the groups using t-tests. Removable prosthesis conditions were analyzed using χ2 tests (p<0.05). There were no group differences in the number of remaining teeth, DMFT, VPI or salivary flow rate (p>0.05). Greater maxillary prosthesis defects were observed in the control group (p=0.037). GOHAI scores were low for the PD group and moderate for controls, yielding a group difference (p=0.04). In conclusion, elders with PD have similar oral health to controls. Although all elders had few remaining teeth, high DMFT and high VPI, PD elders had more negative self-perceptions of their oral health than did the controls.

Removable prosthesis hygiene in elders with Parkinson's disease

“…Sociodemographic information and removable prosthesis characteristics for participants with PD and controls have been reported elsewehere . The sample comprised 17 elders with PD (mean age 69.41 ± 4.65 years) and 20 controls without PD (mean age 72.00 ± 5.69 years).…”

“…This cross‐sectional study included participants aged ≥60 years from a previous study, in which the oral health of elders with PD was objectively and subjectively evaluated. They were totally or partially edentulous, wore complete dentures (CDs) and/or removable partial dentures (RPDs) in at least one jaw, and performed daily prosthesis hygiene independently.…”

“…Thus, participants were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of PD. Those with PD were selected from the Brazilian Parkinson's Association named “Colibri” (Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil), had PD diagnoses from neuropsychiatrists (mean, 6.76 ± 3.80 years previously) based on clinical diagnostic criteria, and received daily levodopa treatment. Control participants were selected from friends and relatives of participants with PD, as well as from elders who received prosthetic treatment at the Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas.…”

“…Controls did not have PD, secondary parkinsonism, or other neurodegenerative disorders. Given the greater skill required to clean RPDs, an effort was made to match experimental and control subjects by prostheses type (RPD or CD), to minimize bias.…”

Oral health of Parkinson’s disease patients, a case-control study

“…Study of the international literature revealed that, when compared to control subjects, Parkinson's disease patients generally had a lower number of teeth, more dental carious lesions, poorer periodontal health, higher objective periodontal treatment needs, more subjective chewing difficulties, more subjective swallowing difficulties, more subjective denture discomfort, more limited active mouth opening, and more negative impact of oral health on daily life (Table 1) [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. However, each of the aforementioned studies investigated only few aspects of oral health; none investigated the whole picture of the oral health status.…”