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Salivary flow and risk of tooth loss in an elderly population
Author(s) -
Caplan Daniel J.,
Hunt Ronald J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1996.tb00816.x
Subject(s) - medicine , tooth loss , logistic regression , saliva , dentistry , odds ratio , socioeconomic status , marital status , population , demography , oral health , gerontology , environmental health , sociology
To investigate the relationship between salivary How and tooth loss, SIS randomly selected dentate people aged 65 and older and living in North Carolina were administered a dental health interview and examination. A single parafinstimulated whole saliva sample of 3 ml was collected and flow rate was calculated. Three years later, 490 people were re‐examined and tooth loss was determined. Thirty‐five percent of the participants had salivary flow rates of 1.0 ml/min or less at baseline and 41% lost at least one tooth over the 3‐yr follow‐up. A logistic regression model controlling The marital status, race, and socioeconomic status showed that those with low salivary flow were more likely to lose at least one tooth during the 3‐yr study period than were those with normal How (odds ratio=1.52, 95% CI= 1.02–2.24). Results from this representative study of community‐dwelling older adults support the concept that compromised salivary How is related to tooth loss. This finding should be considered in the management and prevention of oral diseases.