Teeth, tooth spaces, and prosthetic appliances in elderly men in Malmö, Sweden

A group of 483 men, all of whom were 68 or 69 yr old and had lived for a long time in the city of Malmö were examined with regard to number of teeth present, removable dentures, fixed bridges, and tooth spaces. 76.4% had one or more natural teeth remaining, 59.2% had removable dentures, and 0.2% were edentulous and without dentures. The mean number of teeth present in a fixed dentition calculated on dentate subjects was 16.21 +/- 8.02, including teeth replaced by pontics and 15.0 +/- 7.44 when natural teeth only were recorded. The number of bridges was high, 28.8% of natural dentate persons having bridgework. This cohort had fewer remaining teeth than in similar groups in other areas of Sweden, but more fixed bridges. 19.5% had open tooth spaces corresponding to one or more teeth in the visible parts of the dental arches. The availability of dentistry has been extremely good in Malmö and financial support for all types of dental care has been provided for all inhabitants since 1974. In spite of this, a low number of remaining teeth and many untreated tooth spaces in visible part of the dental arches were found, though on the other hand much fixed bridgework was found. It appears from the present study that the population tends to polarize into two groups, namely one group which takes advantage of the dental services and one which does not.