Survey of the dental health and denture status of institutionalized elderly patients in Ireland

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Abstract
An investigation was conducted to establish the dental status of 368 elderly patients in 2 geriatric hospitals in Limerick, Ireland, in terms of denture status and the number of teeth present. Seventy-eight percent of those examined were edentulous, but only 27% of edentulous patients were wearing maxillary and mandibular dentures. A further 18% wore a maxillary denture only, 21% had dentures made but no longer wore them, and 33% had never had dentures. Forty-four patients had some maxillary and mandibular teeth present and 20 of these had sufficient teeth for masticatory purposes. Very few patients, edentulous or dentate, complained of any problems, although 27 were felt to require extraction of one or more teeth.

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