Dissatisfaction with oral health status in an older adult population

The aim of this study was to assess dissatisfaction with oral health in an older adult population and to identify factors associated with dissatisfaction.

Data were obtained from 907 community-dwelling older adults aged 50 years and older using personal interviews and clinical examinations. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined the relationships among dissatisfaction with oral health and a variety of sociodemographic variables, clinical oral health measures, and measures of the functional and psychosocial impact of oral disorders.

Overall, 14.3 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with their ability to chew, 21.6 percent with their dental appearance, and 5.6 percent with their ability to speak clearly. Almost one-third (30.8%) were dissatisfied with at least one of these dimensions of oral health. Edentulous subjects were more likely to be dissatisfied than dentate subjects. The multivariate regression model for dentate subjects contained seven variables that explained 31 percent of the variance in dissatisfaction scores. For the edentulous, the model contained three variables that accounted for 53 percent of the variance.

These results suggest that demographic, clinical, and psychosocial impact variables are associated with dissatisfaction with oral health. However, psychosocial impact variables had by far the strongest independent effect.