Abstract
We investigated the relationship between the status of oral flora and the oral and general health of 89 elderly patients living in a nursing home located in Sapporo city. There were 23 males and 66 females, and the mean age was 81. 3 years. Specimens were obtained by swabbing the dorsum of tongue, and they were cultured arobically and the number of the colonies were counted. We calculated the number of colonies of streptococci, staphylococci and candida as well as the total number of these bacterias.
The rate of candida-positive cases was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the denturewearing patients (68/73, 79.5%) than in those without dentures (4/11, 36.4%). However, there were no significant relationships of the number of the colonies to the age and sex of patients, the body mass index (BMI), the activity of daily living (ADL), the presence or absence of xerostomia, and the number of remaining teeth.
