Estudo dos pacientes desdentados totais atendidos na disciplina de prótese total da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araraquara no período de 1987 a 1997

Despite of the declining prevalence of edentulousness in the last decades, there is still an effetive demand of treatment with complete dentures, although its prevalence and age dis- tribution patterns are variable in different communities. This study investigated the distribution of edentulous patients of Araraquara's School of Dentistry (Unesp) treated between the years of 1987 and 1997. It was evaluated the clinical records of 486 patients that received upper and lower com- plete dentures in this period. The results showed that 64,8% of the patients were females and 35,2% were males, and the mean age was 57(+12) years. The mean age of total tooth loss was estimated in 42 (+14,5) years, and the mean time of denture use reported by the patients was 19,65 (+11,24) ye- ars. This study shows that total tooth loss is more prevalent in youger women, what could be related to social, cultural and economic conditions of these patients.