2000 Volume 50 Issue 5 Pages 783-789
In 1998, a study of people aged over 80 years old was carried out in four Prefectures, including Fukuoka Prefecture, as a project for the 8020 data bank. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the relationship between general health and oral health in people aged over 80. Of 1,282 residents in Fukuoka Prefecture, a total of 827 participants (310 males and 517 females) completed the program and the questionnaire. In the present study, we selected factors such as exercise and bone density as markers of the subject's general health condition, and analyzed the relationship between these factors and their oral health condition. The finding were as follows. 1. The mean number of teeth per individual was 7.5, and 14.1% of the subjects retained 20 teeth per individual. 2 . A significant relationship between the number of teeth and the notion that "we should take care of their own oral hygiene and oral health", one of the items on the questionnaire, was found. 3. A significant relationship between masticatory efficiency and the number of teeth (≥ 20) was found. 4. A higher proportion of elderly people with a high exercise function possessed a higher number of teeth, could masticate a greater the number of foods, and had a higher bone density. These findings suggested that a positive attitude towards health was a common factor in subject's who retained 20 or more teeth, and that the subject's general health and the amount of exercise they took were also important factors.
