Abstract
Tooth loss constitutes a condition of public health interest and can be used as a measure of the oral health of a population. The study was undertaken to determine the prevalence, pattern and causes of tooth loss among the elderly in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The study was an observational research design carried out using pensioners 60 years and above. Subjects were selected by systematic random sampling and data was collected by the use of questionnaire and clinical oral examination. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. No case of complete edentulousness was recorded in this study. The prevalence of tooth loss was 43.6%. Although the prevalence was higher in males than in females and older than younger age group, the difference was not significant. The mean tooth loss was 8.9±2.1. Tooth loss was higher in the maxillary anterior segment (14.2%) than the mandibular anterior segment (13.3%) and in the mandibular posterior segments (38.8%) than the maxillary posterior segments (33.7%). These differences were however not significant. Periodontal disease accounted for 50.3% (2435) of the tooth loss, dental caries and trauma accounted for 44.2% (2142) and 5.5% (264) of tooth loss respectively. The prevalence of tooth loss was high among the study population. Periodontal disease and dental caries were the main cause of tooth loss in this group. Therefore, there is need to educate and promote oral health among the populace geared towards improving oral hygiene and change in dietary pattern.
Highlights
Dental caries is the disease of dental hard tissues characterized by loss of minerals from the teeth with subsequent cavity formation
The present study showed that tooth loss was higher in males than in females, this result is agreement with the finding of a similar study conducted among the elderly in Ibadan, Nigeria [14]
While the present study shows that more teeth are been lost as a result of caries, periodontal disease still remain the major cause of tooth loss among elderly population as document by other studies [14, 24,25,26]
Summary
Dental caries is the disease of dental hard tissues characterized by loss of minerals from the teeth with subsequent cavity formation. Tooth loss is a major consequence of dental caries and periodontal disease [1]. Tooth loss constitutes a condition of public health interest and can be used as a measure of the oral health of a population [2, 3]. It is important for assessing the standard, availability and utilization of both preventive and curative dental care in a population [4]. Tooth loss diminishes the quality of life and impacts on the [6] psychological status and self esteem of an individual [7, 8]
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