Abstract
A Survey was carried to study the ability to use dentures for elderly patients with medical conditions. The surveyed group consisted of 102 elderly 65yrolds in a special nursing home.
The results were as follows.
1. Of t he 102 elderly subjects, thirtyseven subjects had been using dentures. Fiftyfour subjects were not using dentures at the time of the survey although dentures might be considered necessary.
2. The significant items between group A (37 subjects) who were using dentures and group B (54 subjects) who were not using them were as follows: (1) ability of dressing/undressing,(2) ability to use the tolet,(3) feeding,(4) tooth brushing,(5) ability to move under one's own power,(6) existence of manual motor disturbance and extent of dementia.
3. The following items were considered insignificant: (1) eyesight,(2) the power of hearing,(3) number of missing teeth,(4) number of functional cusp,(5) DMFT index,(6) distribution of missing teeth and (7) age.
4. The seven items considered to be significant were taken as the explanatory variables and “use or nonuse of dentures” was taken as the external criterion. They were then analyzed according to the second class of Hayashi's quantifying theory.
5. The correlation ratio of the distinctive efficiency of the external criterion was 0.372. The rate of correct judgment was 76.9%. The most distinguishing characteristic was dressing ability, followed by the extent of dementia. Indications are that it is possible to determine to a certain extent whether the elderly with medical conditions can make use of dentures.
