Abstract
Objective. To describe the periodontal condition of the elderly in Finland and its association with sociodemographic factors. Material and methods. The study was based on a subpopulation of 1460 persons (748 dentate persons) aged ≥65 years who participated in a nationally representative Health 2000 Survey in Finland. The data for this study were collected by means of an interview and a clinical oral examination. Results. Seventy-three percent of the participants in this study had gingival bleeding in at least one sextant. The proportion of participants with no teeth with deepened periodontal pockets ≥4 mm deep was 31%. Twenty-eight percent of the participants had one to three teeth with deepened periodontal pockets ≥4 mm deep, 15% had four to six and 26% had ≥7. At the individual level, a high number of teeth with deepened periodontal pockets was associated with sociodemographic factors such as high age, intermediate or higher education, and living in a rural area. Conclusion. At a national level, the greatest need for periodontal treatment presently derives from persons aged 65–74 years and/or those with low education, due to their high representation in the elderly population.
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Acknowledgement
The present research is part of the Health 2000 Survey, organized by The National Institute for Health and Welfare of Finland (http://www.ktl.fi/health2000) and partly supported by the Finnish Dental Society Apollonia and the Finnish Dental Association.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.