An epidemiological survey on dental caries for the elderly population in Shanxi province

Objective To investigate the dental caries status of the elderly aged 65～74 years,in order to provide some informations as scientific evidences to support the programme development for caries prevention among the elderly population in Shaanxi province.Methods According to the Third National Oral Health Investigation criteria,the oral health status of 787 people ranged in age from 65 to74 years in Shaanxi province were examined.SPSS 13.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results The prevalence of crown caries,filling rate and DFT was 68.4%,9.8% and 3.14 respectively.The prevalence of root caries,filling rate and DFT was 35.2%,20.8% and 0.74 respectively.Conclusion More attention should be paid to the elderly oral health status in Shaanxi province.More effective measures should be taken to control the prevalence of dental caries,to increase filling rate,to improve oral health status,and to strengthen the oral health education.