Characteristics of participants in the oral physiology component of the Baltimore longitudinal study of aging.

This report describes a variety of demographic, socioeconomic and dental characteristics of 254 (145 male, 109 female) participants in a longitudinal study of oral physiology and aging. All individuals are part of the U.S. National Institute on Aging's Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects are generally in middle to upper middle socioeconomic strata, well educated and in good health (about 75% not taking prescription medication). Most participants practice regular oral hygiene habits and receive regular and comprehensive dental care. Less than 4% of all subjects are edentulous and the average number of natural teeth present for all participants was about 23. Data are presented on DMFT scores, cervical caries (active an restored) scores and gingival and periodontal disease indices for male by age group (20-39, 40-59, 60-88 years) and for females by menopause status (pre-, post-).