Edentulousness, denture wear and denture needs of Indian elderly--a community-based study

India has a large geriatric population (60+ years) of 77 millions, comprising 7.7% of its total population. One of the major handicaps in the elderly is loss of teeth, affecting their mastication, dietary intake and nutritional status. The present study was planned to assess the level of edentulousness, denture wearing and denture needs of the elderly in the community and to study the correlation between oral health parameters and socio-demographic variables, diet and body mass index (BMI). A total of 1240 (716 urban and 524 rural) elderly people were studied. It was found that 60% were dissatisfied with their function of mastication because of loss of teeth and lack of dentures. The level of edentulousness was found to be high, more so in rural than in urban people and more so in advancing age, with no significant difference between male and females. The striking finding of this study was the very low level of denture wearing. Only <50% of those needing complete dentures and <13% of those needing partial dentures were wearing dentures. The denture needs of the rural elderly were higher than those of the urban elderly. Vegetarians had a higher level of edentulousness compared with non-vegetarians. The BMI was not correlated with level of edentulousness.