Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(3):233-236 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3712

Assessment of Oral Hygiene in Adults

Wojciech Skorupka¹, Karolina Żurek², Teresa Kokot³, Ewa Nowakowska-Zajdel³, Edyta Fatyga³, Elżbieta Niedworok⁴, Małgorzata Muc-Wierzgoń³

¹ Private Health Care Centre, Family Dental Service-Multident, Mikołów, Poland

² Private Dental Service, Katowice, Poland

³ Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

⁴ Department of Human Nutrition, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

Objective: The aim of the research was to assess the oral hygiene habits in the elderly group of study population of Southern Poland.

Methods: The study was conducted in dental services in two selected cities in Southern Poland. The group of subjects consisted of 664 respond-ents (272 men, 392 women) aged 65 to 81 years. Oral hygiene was measured with the author's anonymous questionnaire consisting of twenty questions. Questions related to information on personal history and general health, comorbidities, dietary habits, alcohol consumption, smoking, taking drugs and the state of oral hygiene practices as frequency of visits to the dentist and the number of own teeth.

Results: The majority of the subjects had higher n = 240 (36.1%) and secondary n = 219 (33%) education and were predominantly n = 590 (89%) professionally inactive (retirees or pensioners). No significant differences were found between the groups: women and men. But there were differences in technologies used, the examined men significantly often used computer in comparison with the women's group. In total, 19.6% had own natural teeth only, 45.0% own teeth and dentures, 30.0% dentures only, and 5.4% neither teeth nor dentures. Majority of subjects brush their teeth or dentures only 1-2 times a day (80%) and visit the dentist less than once in 2 years or once a year (75%). Women significantly more often stated use of a toothbrush and taking care of oral hygiene and compared to men, they declared higher number of own teeth.

Conclusion: People aged over 65 neglect hygiene and oral care. Women pay more attention to oral hygiene and they have more own teeth than men. The most frequent cause of oral hygiene neglect in the elderly could be gender, the socio-economic conditions, behaviour habits and lack of sufficient health education. The dentist may need to consult with the patient's GP the development of the appropriate personalised treatment plan for the elderly. Young dentists need to be educated in order to provide appropriate dental care to the elderly.

Keywords: oral hygiene, elderly people, author's questionnaire, health education

Received: August 17, 2011; Revised: June 14, 2012; Accepted: June 14, 2012; Published: September 1, 2012  Show citation