Dental prosthetic treatment needs in Mexican elders: Influence of socioeconomic position
Potrzeby leczenia protetycznego u starszych Meksykanów – wpływ czynnika socjoekonomicznego

Horacio Islas-Granillo, Socorro Borges-Yañez, Carlo Medina-Solis, Sonia Márquez-Rodríguez, Salvador Lucas-Rincón, Miguel Fernández-Barrera, Arturo Ascencio-Villagrán, Miriam Veras-Hernández
2017 Dental and Medical Problems  
Background. According to the Global Burden of Oral Conditions in 1990-2010 report, oral diseases are highly prevalent. Tooth loss is also a prevalent oral condition. Poor oral health compromises healthy aging, as it impacts an older person's quality of life and general health. Objectives. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of various indicators of socioeconomic position on dental prosthetic treatment needs in Mexican adults aged 60 and over. Material and methods. A
more » ... nal study was carried out in older adults aged 60 and over who were residents in 2 nursing homes and a senior citizen club in the city of Pachuca, Mexico. By means of a clinical exploration, tooth loss and dental rehabilitation status were determined, which was our dependent variable. This was dichotomized as 0 = subjects with loss of teeth but rehabilitated with a dental prosthesis; and 1 = subjects with loss of teeth and in need of dental prosthesis treatment. Using a questionnaire, a series of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, behavioral and health variables were collected. A statistical analysis was performed in Stata 13 using the χ 2 test. Results. The mean age was 79.03 ±9.81 years. Most of the subjects included in the study were women (68.8%). The prevalence of dental prosthetic treatment needs was 53.6%. Higher dental prosthetic treatment requirements (p < 0.05) were observed among subjects who did not have access to health insurance, in those with education less than elementary, among those who attended a publicly funded nursing home and those who did not have the social benefit of being retired/pensioned. Conclusions. This sample of elderly people presented high dental prosthetic treatment needs for more than half of the subjects studied. It was observed that the variables indicating socioeconomic position had a great impact on the dental prosthetic needs, which represents the existence of inequalities in oral health.
doi:10.17219/dmp/78029 fatcat:knru553gdrgsxfcyle37vsv3lq