Oral diseases and disorders among sample of elderly patients in Basrah Province

Abstract EN

Background: The aim of study was to find out the prevalence of oral diseases and disorders in elderly patients who attending the oral diagnosis department of the College of Dentistry – Basrah University and compare it with the prevalence rates of these lesions in other parts of Iraq and other countries around the world.

Materials and Method: Oral examination of 242 elderly patients, 125 females(51.6%) and 117 males(48.3%) .

The patient's age range 60-85 years .

All the patients of this study referred to oral diagnosis department, College of Dentistry, Basrah University seeking for dental treatment(from January 2012-May 2012).

Results: The most common oral disorder of the studied populations was hyposalivation, which diagnosed in (45.4%), and there was significant statistical difference between males and females .

Among the total study sample 74 (30.5%) of patients were denture wearer.

Denture stomatitis was the most common denture related lesions in denture wearer patients (25.6%).

The clinical examination revealed that (62.3%) of total elderly patients had at least one oral mucosal lesion, the most common lesion were lingual varicosities which diagnosed in (18.5%)of the study sample, atrophic glossitis (13.2%), frictional keratosis (8.6%), traumatic ulcer (7.8%), recurrent minor aphthous ulceration (6.1%), fibroma (3.7%), lichen planus (2.8%) and leukoplakia (1.6%) consequently.

Conclusions: This study has provided information about the epidemiologic aspects of oral diseases and disorders in elderly patients that may prove valuable in the planning of future oral health studies in Basrah city and in Iraq because oral health is an important factor determining the quality of life in elderly individual.