Complete edentulism and denture use for elders in New England.

The purpose of this study was to collect information about the oral health of a representative group of elders in the New England states. This study provides the most current descriptive analysis of completely edentulous noninstitutionalized elders to date. In-home examinations and interviews were conducted for a representative sample of elders over 70 years of age. The oral examinations and interviews were conducted by calibrated dentists and trained interviewers, respectively. Of 1156 study participants, 424 (36.7%) were edentulous. Edentulous rates were similar for men and women and were negatively related to levels of education and income. Of the completely edentulous individuals, 89.9% had maxillary and mandibular complete dentures. Most of these dentures (83.2%) were worn during the day. More than one third of the respondents reported wearing one or both of their dentures while sleeping at night. For 77 of the completely edentulous individuals, examination revealed denture irritations, most of which were on the hard palate.