Comprehensive Study of Dental Orthopedic Morbidity in People Considered as Long-Living Persons and the Ways to Eliminate It

Abstract

Long-living persons of our country are people who lived past 90 years of age. Their childhood, adolescence and youth passed during the years of the Second World War and the period of the country's reconstruction after it. The main task in providing qualified dental orthopedic care to patients of this age group should be ensuring an acceptable quality of life associated with dental health through making dental prosthetic structures that meet high functional and aesthetic requirements.
 The need for a deep comprehensive study of dental orthopedic morbidity, methods of dental orthopedic rehabilitation and improving the life quality of patients belonging to this age group determined the relevance and purpose of this study.
 Research material and methods. The object of the study was long-living persons, aged 90 years old and older, who sought dental orthopedic care in municipal healthcare institutions of Cheboksary, the Chuvash Republic. The sample size was 111 people. 
 Results. It was found that the maximum number of patients in the age group of 90 years and older – 64 people (57.7%) – had completely absent teeth. The analysis of dentition defects by Kennedy classification showed that the maximum number of patients – 19 persons (17.1%) – had bounded edentuous spaces in the lateral parts of their dentition, a smaller number – 16 persons (14.4%) – had unilateral free-end saddle, 10 persons (9.0%) had bilateral free-end saddle and the minimum number of patients – 2 persons (1.8%) – had defects in the anterior part of the dentition. The analysis of dental prosthetic structures mounted in patients of "Centenarians" age showed that the volume of pin structures was 28.4%; artificial crowns – 36.0%; bridge prostheses – 11.6%; removable plate prostheses in partial loss of teeth – 8.0%; clasp prostheses – 2.5%; removable plate prostheses in complete loss of teeth – 13.5%.
 Conclusions. Patients-long-living persons made up the smallest group. The study of their dental orthopedic morbidity showed that completely absent dentition was most often diagnosed. It was in this age group of patients that the duration of dentition defects increased, according to Kennedy classification, which required more frequent use of removable orthopedic structures as dental orthopedic rehabilitation.