My last post focused on statistics about dental health for children, but adults especially elderly individuals can suffer from dental issues too. In most cases the solution to a problem tooth is extraction because proper dental care is not available. While one or two teeth may not seem like that big of a difference, loosing teeth can severely diminish an individuals quality of life due to inability to eat basic foods.
Edentulous means lacking teeth or toothless. Below is a table of the edentulous elderly in countries across the world.
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| Prevalence of edentulousness (%) of elderly reported for selected countries throughout the world |
Some industrialized countries have seen a decrease in tooth loss among adult populations. However, in some cases percentages of edentulous adults, ages 65 and older, are still very high. Countries above 50% edentulous adults 65 and older include Canada, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Malaysia.
Periodontal diseases are also common among adults. 5-15% of some populations suffer from severe periodontitis, which can result in tooth loss. The graph below shows the average percentages of 34-44 year-olds using the Community Periodontal Index. This index has five different degrees of severeness; 0 represents healthy, uninflammed gingiva and periodontium, while 4 represents non-funtional teeth and the most severe form of periodontitis.
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| Mean percentages of 35-44-year-olds by maximum Community Periodontal Index scores according to WHO regional offices |
More than half of the periodontitis cases in this age group are a result of smoking. In industrialized continues smoking poses as a major threat to periodontal health. Studies have shown that countries with decreased tobacco use have also seen a decrease in periodontal disease cases. When smokes quit the risk of periodontal disease lessens as well.
Sources:
WHO Global Orla Health Data Bank
WHO Oral Health Country/Area Profile Programme, 2000
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