Incidence of tooth loss and dental caries in 60‐, 70‐ and 80‐year‐old Swedish individuals

Abstract

The retention of natural teeth among the elderly is increasing and, in recent studies, dental caries has been identified as the main reason for teeth being extracted. The 5-year incidence of tooth loss and dental caries and the most crucial dental factors for tooth extraction were studied in a random sample of 60-, 70- and 80-year-old inhabitants of Gothenburg. Of the 208 persons examined at baseline, 148 (71%) participated in the follow-up examination: 69, 51 and 28 respectively in the different age groups. In all, 110 teeth had been extracted during the period in 40% of the participants. Only 9 persons had lost three or more teeth. The mean numbers of remaining teeth were 22. 18 and 15 respectively in the 60-, 70- and 80-year age groups and the mean numbers of teeth lost during the 5-year period increased with age from 0.4 in the 60-year-olds to 0.8 and 1.4 in the 70- and 80-year-olds (P < 0.05). The major reason for tooth extraction was dental caries and it was found in 60% of all cases and at a higher rate of 77% in the oldest age group. Fifty-one per cent had developed new coronal carious lesions and 61% had new root carious lesions, while 27% had not developed caries during the period. The mean 5-year increment in decayed and filled coronal surfaces increased with age from 2.3 in the 60-year-olds to 3.7 and 5.3 in the 70- and 80-year-olds (N.S.I. The increment in decayed and filled root surfaces was higher in women than men, 3.4 compared with 1.8 (N.S.), which also increased with age from 1.4 in the 60-year-olds to 2.4 and 5.5 in the 70- and 80-year-olds (P < 0.0001). It was concluded from this study that few teeth had been lost during the 5-year period but that dental caries still appeared to be a serious problem among some very elderly people.

General health and oral health status in elderly dental patients in Isparta, Turkey

“…In this study, the percentage of the edentulous population was 21.2%; 26.7% of women and 16.2% of men were edentulous. Although women have reported a higher prevalence of edentulism in some studies, this difference was not significant in the current study (8,9). On the contrary, there was a statistically significant difference in the edentulousness rates between genders in this study; this has also been reported in several other studies (10,11).…”

Alternative methods to visual and radiographic examinations for approximal caries detection

“…Current evidence from epidemiological studies focusing on children, young adults, and adults have shown a shift in caries prevalence from occlusal surfaces at younger ages to approximal surfaces with advancing age (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Unlike the occlusal and free smooth surfaces, the approximal surfaces cannot be visualized directly due to the presence of neighboring teeth.…”

Evaluation of a computer-based caries risk assessment program in an elderly group of individuals

“…Today's elderly carry numerous fillings, crowns, and bridges, all subject to the risk of secondary caries. Studies of the causal factors of tooth extraction have shown that caries is an important reason for the loss of teeth even in the oldest age groups (1). In addition, secondary caries is the main reason why crowns and bridges need to be replaced (2,3).…”