earticle

영어

The purpose of this study was to examine the oral health awareness, oral health care and oral health status of rural elderly patients and the influence of oral health state on denture wearing in an attempt to suggest some of the right directions for senior oral health care in pursuit of the improvement of the oral health status of elderly patients, as quality health care service is not quite accessible in rural communities. The subjects in this study were 209 senior patients who were at the age of 65 and up and resided in rural regions around the city of Soonchun, South Jeolla Province. The findings of the study were as follows: 1. As a result of checking the oral health state of the rural elderly patients, 53.5 percent found themselves to be in bad oral health. 80.2 percent didn't ever receive any toothbrushing education, and 97.5 percent faced difficulties in mastication. 83.2 percent feel pain during mastication. 2. Out of the 100 elderly denture users (47.8%), the women accounted for 60 percent, and the men represented 40 percent. 12.0 percent were aged between 65 and 74, and 38.0 percent were at the age of 75 to 84. 50.0 percent were 85 years old or older. As to the number of remaining tooth, 54.0 percent had one to nine remaining teeth, and 44.0 percent had 10 to 19 remaining teeth. 3. When the correlation between their oral health status and denture wearing was investigated, there was the closest correlation between age and denture wearing. 4. The factors that had the largest impact on denture wearing were age and the number of remaining tooth. The advance in age led to a smaller number of remaining tooth and a larger rate of denture wearing. A smaller number of remaining tooth was followed by more inconveniences in mastication and a greater rate of denture wearing. In conclusion, the government should pay attention to the promotion of the oral health of the elderly population, and should push ahead with senior oral health plans involving denture plans to assist elderly people to prevent the loss of tooth, to feel less inconvenience or pain in mastication, to lead a better quality of life and to be under less financial pressure. Besides, every local community should be equipped with required infrastructure related to oral health to let rural people and islanders benefit from quality dental treatment to ensure the equity of regional oral health.