title: Eighteen-month incidence of tooth loss among older adults in North Carolina.
abstract: This study investigated tooth loss in North Carolina adults 65 years of age or older. A random sample of 335 Blacks and 284 Whites participated in dental examinations and interviews at baseline and again after 18 months. Blacks were more likely than Whites to lose at least one tooth (36% vs 19%), and they lost more teeth on average (1.0 vs 0.4). Several oral disease conditions and symptoms were related to tooth loss, but many other hypothesized factors were not. Risk models were inconclusive in the identification of factors related to risk of tooth loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Ecology, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Beck
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D001741:Black or African American