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Oral mucosal appearance is unchanged in healthy, different-aged persons
A Wolff1, J A Ship, C A Tylenda
1Clinical investigations and patient Care Branch, National Institute of Dental, Bethesda, Md. National Institute of Dental, Bethesda, Md.
Abstract:
Oral mucosal status in 182 different-aged, healthy, community-dwelling persons was evaluated. Ninety-four men and 88 women, ranging in age between 20 and 95 years, participated in this study. Oral mucosal status was assessed according to both subjective complaints and a semiquantitative clinical rating scale. No changes in either criterion were detected with increasing age. Oral mucosal status of the older subjects of this study was comparable to that found in a previous study with a randomly enrolled, noninstitutionalized older population in Iowa. The results of this study suggest that aging per se does not lead to changes in the appearance of oral mucosa.