Saúde bucal em idosos residentes em uma instituição filantrópica no município de Fortaleza, Ceará : epidemiologia, cuidados e práticas

Abstract

In Brazil, the elderly population has been growing continuously, leading to a higher demand for long-term institutions for the elderly. In spite of that, studies on the oral health of institutionalized elderly in northeast Brazil are virtually non-existent. The objective of the present study was to analyze the oral health conditions in institutionalized elderly of 65 year-olds or older in a nursing home in the city of Fortaleza / CE, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 160 individuals (95.2% of the target population), consisting of the analysis of patient records, application of a questionnaire and oral examination. In statistic analysis, T-Student, Kruskal-Wallis and multiple linear regression tests were performed. Their mean age was 76.6 years. The DMFT index (29.73) was high. Lost teeth represented the highest proportion (28.42); 109 (68.1%) elderly did not have any healthy teeth; 93 (58.1%) were total edentates and 56 (35.0%) had teeth with exposed roots. Of 573 teeth present in total, 256 (44.6%) required some kind of treatment, and 194 (75.8%) of them dental extraction. Of the study population, 112 (70%) did not use any upper prosthesis, and 130 (81.3%) did not use any lower prosthesis. The need of an upper prosthesis was detected in 135 elderly (84.4%) and of a lower prosthesis in 142 (88.7%). The majority of sextants examined (83.8%) had dental calculus. About practices and care in oral health, only 17 individuals (10.6%) did not clean their mouth. Few elderly had visited the dentist at last three months. The dental extraction predominated as the reason at last time of going to dentist. Age, educational level and oral hygiene entered in the multiple linear regression. These data show that most of the elderly had poor oral health. Interventional measures focused on these populations, such as health education and preventive treatment, are, therefore, necessary.