Epidemiological survey on edentulousness

India has a large geriatric population 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, cause of edentulousness, denture wearing and denture needs of the middle and elderly in the society and study was correlated between habits and socioeconomic variables, diet and body mass index (BMI).

A total of 500 subjects (random sampling) from dental outpatient were studied. A prepared questionnaire was developed, explained, interviewed and questions were filled personally.

The level of edentulousness was found to be high in the subjects with low socioeconomic status and in advancing age with no significant difference between male and females. Another finding was very low level of denture wearing of 62% needing complete denture and partial denture only 10.4% of subjects wearing dentures. Mixed diet population had higher level of edentulousness compared with vegetarians. The BMI was correlated with level of edentulousness.

The study clearly showed that there is lack of dental awareness, so dental education and motivation in very important. The study concludes that the need for prosthodontics care will increase due to the increase in life span. This study is clinically significant with regard to knowing the root cause of edentulism, either partial or complete. Out of 62% tooth loss, dental caries (37.4%) topped the cause for tooth loss followed by combination of dental caries and periodontal disease (12.2%).