Open AccessDiscontinued dental attendance among elderly people in Sweden
Author(s) -
Ingela Grönbeck-Linden,
Catharina Hägglin,
Anita Petersson,
Per O Linander,
Lars Gahnberg
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of international society of preventive and community dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.476
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 2250-1002
pISSN - 2231-0762
DOI - 10.4103/2231-0762.183101
Subject(s) - attendance , medicine , dental care , allowance (engineering) , population , family medicine , gerontology , environmental health , mechanical engineering , engineering , economics , economic growth
Our objective was to study the loss of dental attendance and a possible age trend among patients aged ≥65 years in Sweden. Regular dental check-ups are considered to be an important factor in maintaining oral health. Approximately 80% of the adult population in Sweden are enrolled in a regular check-up system; however, dental practitioners often find that older patients attend fewer check-ups. Old people may naturally lose contact with dental services as they move to special housing or die. In this systematic study, these factors were investigated and used as exclusion criteria.