title: Salivary flow and risk of tooth loss in an elderly population.
abstract: To investigate the relationship between salivary flow and tooth loss, 818 randomly selected dentate people aged 65 and older and living in North Carolina were administered a dental health interview and examination. A single paraffin-stimulated whole saliva sample of 3 ml was collected and flow rate was calculated. Three years later, 490 people were re-examined and tooth loss was determined. Thirty-five percent of the participants had salivary flow rates of 1.0 ml/min or less at baseline and 41% lost at least one tooth over the 3-yr follow-up. A logistic regression model controlling for marital status, race, and socioeconomic status showed that those with low salivary flow were more likely to lose at least one tooth during the 3-yr study period than were those with normal flow (odds ratio = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.02-2.24). Results from this representative study of community-dwelling older adults support the concept that compromised salivary flow is related to tooth loss. This finding should be considered in the management and prevention of oral diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Ecology, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D044383:Black People; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016321:Dental Care for Aged; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009657:North Carolina; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012636:Secretory Rate; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000209:etiology*; D044465:White People; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000150:complications; D001741:Black or African American