title: Assessing oral health promotion determinants in active Greek elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore older adults' patterns and risk behaviours to be invoked in the allocation of strategies to promote oral health.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  to dental services is determined by factors that serve as barriers to or enablers of older adults' behaviour and attitudes towards oral health. Appropriate oral health promotion activities are of particular importance among the elderly in altering oral health behaviour through education, prevention and health protection.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted among 108 dentate elderly subjects. They were attending a University Prosthetic Dentistry Clinic in Greece as patients seeking treatment. Participants underwent a clinical examination and an interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data extracted revealed that cost and no disease awareness were the most frequently mentioned barriers to regular dental visits. Most of the participants presented low level of income and education and reduced presence of adverse dental health symptoms compared with the actual oral health status. Besides some predisposing factors, enabling and need variables significantly affected access to dental care services, participants' number of remaining teeth and as a consequence oral health status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Profiling older adults' demographics, economic, social and cultural status and their attitudes and beliefs could further contribute in developing universal activities and strategies for oral health promotion so as ageing challenges are favoured.
authors.affiliation: Division of Removable Prosthodontics, Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. naka@dent.auth.gr
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Naka
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anastassiadou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000145:classification; D003778:Dentures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D015438:Health Behavior; D017048:Health Care Costs; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000145:classification; D007576:Jaw, Edentulous, Partially / Q000145:classification; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D009909:Oral Health; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000145:classification; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012649:Self Concept