title: Dental health status of community-dwelling older Singaporeans: findings from a nationally representative survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the dental health status of older Singaporeans by age, gender and ethnicity.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Poor dental health in elders has been linked to a number of adverse health conditions and is often associated with an increased risk of mortality in older people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data came from a nationally representative cross-sectional 2009 survey of community-dwelling Singaporeans aged 60 and over. The distribution of the number of natural teeth, chewing ability and the presence of dentures were assessed by age, gender and ethnicity (Chinese/Malay/Indian) using sampling weights.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With increasing age, there was a decrease in the average number of natural teeth, a decrease in the proportion of people with 20 or more natural teeth and with the strongest chewing ability, and an increase in the proportion that was edentulous or had dentures. Women, vs. men, had a lower average number of natural teeth (10.3 vs. 12.8), and they were more likely to be edentulous (37 vs. 24%) and to have dentures (73 vs. 63%). Across ethnic groups, Indians had the highest average number of natural teeth (17.0). However, among those who had dentures, Indians were the least likely to have the strongest chewing ability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings demonstrated differences in dental health status by age, gender and ethnicity. They highlight the need for improvements in the dental health status of all older Singaporeans, especially older women. The data presented herein may serve as a baseline for policymakers to evaluate the impact of recent schemes launched by the Ministry of Health (Singapore) to subsidise dental treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chi-Tsun
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.|Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: See Mieng
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Dean's Office, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.|Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Angelique
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Khim Hean
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Teoh
authors.affiliation: National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sapphire Tsering
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Gan
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.|University Research Center, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003817:Dentition; D003778:Dentures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: dental health; elderly; oral health