Self-perception of oral health in the elderly and oral health condition

Abstract

Introduction: due to the increase in life expectancy and, consequently, to the increase in the number of elderly people, the association between health states becomes relevant in terms of public health, since in addition to the lived years the quality of life of these patients is important. Objective: evaluate the self-perception of oral health and check the oral health condition of the elderly. Methods: observational cross-sectional study (January to July / 2019) in which questionnaires were the GOHAI (Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index) questionnaire and questionnaire about type, time of use and cleaning of dental prostheses, oral cancer and socioeconomic data. The presence of possible oral lesions was also assessed by clinical examination. The subjects included in the sample were elderly (60 years or older) attending the Aracaju Health Units. Results: fifty-five were female and eight male. When evaluating the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index, it is verified that 47.6% of the sample has poor self-perception of oral health. Associations were found between GOHAI Index for last visit to the dentist, dental prosthesis adaptation and mouth wound (p < 0.05). The most prevalent oral lesions were reddish or irritated mucosa (35.7 %), followed by erythroplakia (14.2 %), 76% of the prostheses had cracks or dirt. About the cleaning of the protests, 77.7 % use only dentifrice as cleaning material. Conclusion: self-perceived oral health and oral health conditions of the elderly evaluated were considered poor, in the presence of poorly adapted and cracked prostheses, in addition to mucositis.

Keywords

• ancianos
• prótesis dental
• calidad de vida
• salud bucal.