Clinical epidemiological characteristics of periodontal disease in elderly patients

Abstract

Introduction: the elderly are prone to suffer from oral diseases, including periodontium diseases, which are the most important cause of tooth loss in this group. Methods. Descriptive study was carried out, the sample consisted of 82 patients over 60 years of age who attended the Stomatology service of the Chiqui Gómez polyclinic, Villa Clara in the period of January-October 2019. The analyzed variables were: age ( according to age groups: 60-75 years and 76 years and over), sex (female, male), classification of chronic inflammatory periodontal disease (gingivitis, periodontitis), risk factors for chronic inflammatory periodontal disease (smoking, oral hygiene deficient and diabetes mellitus). Statistical measures of distribution of absolute frequencies and percentages, confidence intervals and independence test were applied. Results. Most of the elderly were between 60-75 years old and were women. The elderly with periodontium diseases predominated, gingivitis was the most common condition in the female sex and periodontitis in the male , among the patients, regular and poor oral hygiene predominated. The risk factor most represented in chronic inflammatory periodontal disease was poor oral hygiene .Conclusions. The elderly are more susceptible to alterations in the oral cavity such as periodontal disease, which reduces their quality of life.