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Caries Prevalence in Older Persons with and without Dementia
Author(s) -
Ellefsen Birita,
HolmPedersen Poul,
Morse Douglas E.,
Schroll Marianne,
Andersen Birgitte Bo,
Waldemar Gunhild
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01495.x
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , memory clinic , coronal plane , root caries , population , medical diagnosis , clinical dementia rating , disease , cross sectional study , mini–mental state examination , gerontology , dentistry , pathology , environmental health , radiology
OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of coronal and root caries in a memory clinic–based population of elderly patients with and without a diagnosis of dementia and to examine the influence of age, sex, social relations, social position, and functional ability. DESIGN: Cross‐sectional. SETTING: Patients referred with possible cognitive dysfunction were recruited from two university hospital dementia clinics. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 106 dentate persons participated in the study. Mean age was 82, 69 were women, and 87 had a diagnosis of dementia. MEASUREMENTS: Data from interviews and a clinical examination were collected. The diagnosis of dementia was made at the dementia clinics according to the criteria of International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision . Active coronal and root caries was assessed using previously defined diagnostic criteria from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. RESULTS: The mean number of coronal and root surfaces with caries was statistically significantly higher in subjects with a diagnosis of dementia (7.0 vs 2.7, P <.05). Subjects with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease had a significantly higher mean number of root surfaces with caries (4.9, P <.05) than subjects with other dementia diagnoses (2.3) and those without dementia (1.7). People with Alzheimer's disease also had significantly more mean total caries than subjects without dementia (7.8 vs 2.7, P <.05). Participants with a Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) score less than 24 had significantly more caries than participants with a MMSE‐score of 24 or higher (7.6 vs 4.3, P <.05). CONCLUSION: Patients with newly diagnosed dementia already had a high level of active dental caries when they were referred to the memory clinic. The high caries prevalence was related to dementia type and severity.