Oral Findings and Health Status among Turkish Geriatric Patients with or without Dementia (Oral Lesions and Dementia Patients)

Background: In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency of oral mucosal lesions and systemic disease in patients with or without dementia. Methods: The patient group comprised patients from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Darulaceze Retirement Home and the control group consisted of patients who attended university clinics. The examination took place in a quiet room within the nursing home in the company of a member of the care staff well-known to the patient, and the control group was collected from participants who wanted to be included in the study. The study group consisted of 250 patients with dementia (110 male, 140 female) with a mean age of 74.1 +/- 10.9 years and 200 control patients (90 male, 110 female) with mean age of 70.5 +/- 10.2 years. We examined patients using a mouth mirror. Medical information was collected from patients and nurses. Results: In this study, 164 patients with dementia (64.8%) and 109 control patients (54.5 %) had one or more oral mucosal lesions (p = 0.016). Eighty-eight patients with dementia (35.2%) and sixty control patients (30%) were edentulous (p > 0.05), and 28 in the patient group (31.8 %) and 43 in the control group (71.6 %) were able to use prostheses (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Oral mucosal lesions are more common in patients with dementia and dental care should be performed regularly for this group. In addition, because removable prostheses can be lost by patients with dementia, implant-supported fixed prostheses should be preferred for this group. Copyright (c) 2012, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. All rights reserved.