Factors connected with alveolar bone resorption among institutionalized elderly people

In this socio-dental investigation among 175 institutionalized somatically disabled edentulous elderly people correlations are described between the test subjects' degree of alveolar bone resorption, their gender and age, their duration of edentulousness, and the number of complete dentures worn. All test subjects were interviewed by dental students and clinically examined by dentists. The mandibular alveolar bone resorption was significantly stronger in women than in men and stronger in people who had been edentulous longer. The longer the test subjects had been edentulous and the greater their degree of mandibular alveolar bone resorption was, the more mandibular dentures they had worn. This study among institutionalized elderly people provides for the most part the same results as a previously presented study among much younger people. Obviously, in these respects there are no differences between these groups.