Burden of Oral Disease Among Older Adults and Implications for Public Health Priorities

Dental disease is largely preventable. Many older adults, however, experience poor oral health. National data for older adults show racial/ethnic and income disparities in untreated dental disease and oral health-related quality of life. Persons reporting poor versus good health also report lower or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 102; no. 3; pp. 411 - 418
Main Authors:	GRIFFIN, Susan O, JONES, Judith A, BRUNSON, Diane, GRIFFIN, Paul M, BAILEY, William D
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC American Public Health Association 01-03-2012
Subjects:	Abscesses Activities of daily living Age Aged An Integrated Approach to Healthy Aging Biological and medical sciences Chronic illnesses Cost of Illness Dental care Dental caries Dental insurance Disease prevention Expenditures Fluorides General aspects Gum disease Health Services Accessibility Hispanic people Humans Hygiene Insurance coverage Medicaid Medical sciences Minority & ethnic groups Miscellaneous Nutrition Surveys Older people Oral diseases Oral Health - ethnology Oral hygiene Pain Periodontal Diseases - epidemiology Periodontal Diseases - prevention & control Periodontal Diseases - psychology Prevention Preventive medicine Public health Public Health Practice Public health. Hygiene Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine Quality of Life Risk Assessment Risk factors Social Class Social interaction Teeth Tooth Loss United States - epidemiology United States Human Elderly Priority Morbidity Public health Oral administration
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Summary:	Dental disease is largely preventable. Many older adults, however, experience poor oral health. National data for older adults show racial/ethnic and income disparities in untreated dental disease and oral health-related quality of life. Persons reporting poor versus good health also report lower oral health-related quality of life. On the basis of these findings, suggested public health priorities include better integrating oral health into medical care, implementing community programs to promote healthy behaviors and improve access to preventive services, developing a comprehensive strategy to address the oral health needs of the homebound and long-term-care residents, and assessing the feasibility of ensuring a safety net that covers preventive and basic restorative services to eliminate pain and infection.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Peer Reviewed Contributors S. O. Griffin substantially contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data, and the drafting of the article. J. A. Jones substantially contributed to the acquisition and interpretation of data. D. Brunson, P. M. Griffin, and W. D. Bailey substantially contributed to the interpretation of data. All authors substantially contributed to the concept and design of this study and the critical revision of the article for important intellectual content.
ISSN:	0090-0036 1541-0048
DOI:	10.2105/ajph.2011.300362