Oral health issues of Spanish adults aged 65 and over

Objectives: The aim of this survey was to investigate the oral health and nutritional status of elderly men and women, including those living in institutions, representative of Spanish adults aged 65 years old and over. Design: Cross-sectional oral health survey in an elderly population. Subjects: 3,460 adults (1,433 men and 1,996 women) aged 65 and older (mean age 73.2 (+/- 6.4)). Setting: Randomly selected primary care clinics and institutions. Intervention: The oral health survey included a questionnaire and an oral examination conducted by calibrated dentists. A structured interview on socio-economic status, oral health habits, a Mini-Nutritional Assessment, and a clinical evaluation of oral and dental health, were performed. Results: 31% of the population were edentulous. The dentate subjects had an average of 15 teeth. 73% of the dentate sample brushed their teeth once or less a day. Mean DMFT value was 21.8. Risk of malnutrition was present in 43% of the edentulous and 39% of the dentate, and in 53% of institutionalised and 40% of non-institutionalised subjects. Malnutrition was present in 5% of edentulous and 4% of dentate adults. Discussion: Despite the low level of edentulousness, the oral health of Spanish adults aged 65 and older is poor. There is also a need to ensure that the overall balance of the diet is not impaired because of the state of the dentition.