title: Oral diseases in the elderly in Finland as judged by biopsy.
abstract: A survey of 22,946 oral biopsy specimens indicated the type of oral diseases appearing in the elderly in Finland. Patients were grouped by age: younger individuals (less than 60 years old) and more elderly (60 years old and older). The elderly were further divided into subgroups. In the age groups 60-69 and 70-79, cysts of the jaws and oral soft tissues (31% and 23%), and in the age group 80 years or older lesions of the oral mucosa (29%) were the most frequent findings. Although radicular cyst was the most common single diagnosis in the elderly (18%), its relative frequency was lower than that found in the age group under 60 years (35%). The relative frequency of premalignant and malignant lesions was more than 10-fold that found in younger individuals, and increased in the elderly with advancing age (p less than 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Prosthetic Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Könönen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ylipaavalniemi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hietanen
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Happonen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D011842:Radicular Cyst / Q000453:epidemiology