Social impact of oral conditions among older adults

Oral symptoms and their effects on well-being provide an indication of the social impact of oral disease and can be used to document the burden of illness within populations. This report presents findings about the social impact of oral disease among a random sample of 1217 non-institutionalized persons aged 60 years and over living in Adelaide and Mt Gambier. They completed a questionnaire containing 49 questions about the effect of oral conditions on dysfunction, discomfort and disability. Over 5 per cent of dentate persons and over 10 per cent of edentulous persons reported impacts such as difficulty in chewing, discomfort during eating and avoidance of foods 'fairly often' or 'very often' during the previous 12 months. Impacts on social roles and interpersonal relationships were reported by up to 5 per cent of persons. Edentulous persons reported social impact more frequently, particularly in areas related to chewing and eating. Older age was associated with significantly greater amounts of impact among dentate persons, while edentulous males reported significantly more impact than edentulous females. There were larger variations among dentate persons according to their dental utilization patterns, with the highest levels of impact reported by individuals who usually attended for dental problems and who had attended the previous year. The high frequency of social impact reported in this study no doubt reflects extensive levels of disease experience, including high rates of missing teeth and edentulism, among older adults.