To expand current knowledge of oral conditions in the elderly, longitudinal studies are needed that identify oral, physical, medical, psychosocial and behavioral risk factors for oral disease in representative populations of community-dwelling older people. The subjects for this study will come from a population of noninstitutionalized elderly people already participating in the NIA-funded Piedmond Health Survey of the Elderly, which is following a random sample of 4,500 people aged 65 and older and residing in one of five contiguous counties in North Carolina. For the proposed study, a subsample of 1000 people will be selected. The people will be sampled according to the following strata: age 65-74 or 75+, male or female, black or white, urban or rural, high or low SES, dentate or edentulous. The study will consist of a dental health interview for items not already a part of the Piedmond Health Survey an a field dental examination in the participants' homes. The examination procedures will be identical to those already being used by the applicants in in a study of elderly people in Iowa. This study will permit black-white comparisons in the pattern and risks of dental disease in a variety of demographically and economically diverse older age groups, while investigating a wide variety of potential risk factors for oral diseases. The principal aims of this five-year longitudinal study are: 1. To determine the prevalence of coronal caries, root caries, gingival recession, calculus, gingival bleeding, pocket depth, loss of attachment, oral mucosal lesions, missing teeth, attrition, abrasion and denture problems in a representative sample of urban and rural blacks and whites aged 65+. 2. To identify sociodemographic, psychosocial, physical/medical, behavioral, dietary, and oral microbial correlates of the prevalence of these dental conditions. 3. To determine the incidence of coronal caries, root caries, gingival recession, change in pocket depth, loss of attachment, oral mucosal lesions, and missing teeth. 4. To identify sociodemographic, psychosocial, physical/medical, behavioral, dietary, and oral microbial risk factors for the incidence of these conditions.
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