title: Periodontal health status in the elderly with different levels of education: a 5-year follow-up study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the association between the periodontal health status and level of education over a 5-year period among the elderly aged 75 years and older.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Oral health among the higher educated is known to be better than among the less-well educated. On the other hand, the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease has been found to grow with increasing age.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants were derived from a population-based Helsinki Aging Study, a random sample of 76-, 81- and 86-year-old elderly. The 170 dentate elderly who underwent clinical oral examinations at baseline and 71 who participated in the follow-up were included in this study. The data was collected from intraoral and radiological examinations and from a structured questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects with a higher level of education had more retained teeth than subjects with a lower level of education. According to CPITN index, better-educated participants had more healthy sextants, but they also had more sextants with periodontal pockets. Radiographic examination showed similar results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Level of education has a clear effect on the periodontal health status in the elderly. More treatment need seems to polarise into those elderly who are better educated as they retain more teeth into old age.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. paivi.siukosaari@hel.fi
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siukosaari
authors.forename: Shilpi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ajwani
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ainamo
authors.forename: Juhani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Närhi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000145:classification; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003728:Dental Calculus / Q000145:classification; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000145:classification; D003778:Dentures / Q000145:classification; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017823:Furcation Defects / Q000145:classification; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000145:classification; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000145:classification; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016300:Radiography, Bitewing; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000145:classification; D014963:X-Ray Intensifying Screens