Oral health conditions of institutionalized older adults and associated factors

Introduction: The growth of the Brazilian older adult population has influenced the increased demand for institutionalization for this public, which usually has poor oral health conditions such as edentulism. Objective: To characterize the oral health conditions and verify the variables related to the edentulism of institutionalized older adults and verify the relation of the time of institutionalization with oral health. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted with 512 institutionalized older adults in which the sociodemographic profile, general health conditions, and oral health care and conditions were evaluated by clinical exams, consultations of medical records, and structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences using the Pearson Chi-square and Fisher's Exact tests and a logistic regression model using a 95% confidence level. Results: A high DMFT (29.4), high prevalence of complete edentulism (61.3%), high need for maxillary (73.6%), and mandibular oral rehabilitation (56.8%) were observed. Edentulism was associated with older age (p