Oral health status among the geriatric population - A cross sectional study

Objective. The objective of the study was to assess the various oral changes in geriatrics patients. Methods. This was a cross-sectional, observational study among the geriatric subjects visiting outpatient department of our institution. A total of 450 geriatric subjects visiting the dental clinic were examined for various oral changes The various oral changes were entered into a structured proforma by a trained dentist after recording the demographic details, habit history, systemic illness. Chi square test was applied to check the association between qualitative data and Student t-test was used for analysis of quantitative data. Results. A total of 450 elderly patients in the age range of 60-90 years with a mean age of 67.12 years were enrolled in the study. Majority of them were males (66.4%). Oral manifestations were divided into hard tissue and soft tissue findings. Among the hard tissue, the prevalent findings were partially edentulous followed by periodontitis, wasting disease, dental caries, completely edentulous. Soft tissue manifestations were gingivitis followed by oral cancer, leukoplakia, candidiasis, smokers melanosis, gingival enlargement. Conclusions. The maintenance of oral health in the elderly population should be given importance not only on emergency basis but by encouraging them to pay regular visit to their dentists thereby they could lead a better quality of life.