Polish Journal of Public Health

Chair and Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Medical University of Lublin, Poland

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Introduction. Age-related tooth loss causes an increasing need for prosthetic treatment. Maintaining a healthy masticatory system, as well as proper speaking functions is one of the main goals for prosthetic rehabilitation of the elderly.

Aim. The authors aimed at checking what types of moveable dentures people over 65, residents of nursing and family homes tend to wear and how long do they do it.

Material and methods. Some 240 people over 65 were looked at – 117 were residents of nursing homes in Lublin, while another 123 lived in their own family home. The authors took the following factors into consideration: type of denture, and how long were the dentures used.

Results. It appeared that movable dentures were used by some 57.26% of nursing home residents and 69.11% of people living in their family homes. Residents used mostly full denture, both in maxilla and mandible, respectively 71.05% and 67.14%. Similarly, seniors living at home had worn mainly full maxillary denture in 50.00% of cases, and full mandibular denture in 44.44% of cases. The mean time of using maxillary and mandibular dentures was longer in seniors residing in nursing homes (maxilla – 7.24 years, mandible – 7.48 years) than in persons living with their families (maxilla – 5.39 years, mandible – 4.63 years).

Conclusion. The supply of dentures in both groups of seniors is unsatisfactory. Most of the examined seniors have used the dental prostheses for too long.