The residual dentition among home-based older New Zealanders receiving living support

There have been no detailed descriptions of residual dentition patterns among older people living in the community.

To describe the residual dentition and associated oral health-related quality of life among older New Zealanders living in their own homes with government-funded assistance.

Using nationally representative data, we determined the residual dentition arrangement and Kennedy classification for each dental arch. Individuals were categorised according to their maxillary-mandibular dental configuration and prosthesis use. Data were weighted to make the estimates generalisable to the source population.

Of the 895 clinically examined participants, 47.8% were dentate. One-quarter of those had maxillary tooth-bound saddles opposing a partially dentate mandible. Pasifika (people of Pacific Islands ethnicity) were most likely to have retained all of their dentition, while only the Māori ethnic group had no participants with a dentate arch. Only one in three of those with partially dentate upper and lower arches wore any maxillary denture; one in ten wore some form of mandibular denture. Partial dentures were common among those with an opposing edentulous jaw. Maxillary partial dentures were twice as common as their mandibular counterparts.

Residual dentition patterns in older people are diverse and complex, and meeting their prosthodontic needs is not straightforward.