Edentulism Case Study

3.8. IMPACT OF EDENTULISM ON ORAL HEALTH: (definition)

Missing teeth can cause impairment, limitation of function, physical, mental, and social handicap [19]. Thus, the impact of edentulism on general body should be observed by measuring the major dimensions of health: physical symptoms and functional capacity, social function. This means that well-conted endpoints of demographic significance can be used to understand the world wide problem of this disease.

3.8.1.EFFECT ON NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY:

Bone loss is an ongoing process after edentulism [20], affecting the lower jaw four times more than the upper jaw [21]. Edentulism was found to have an important effect on ridge resorption [22], leading to a reduced alveolar bone height and the size

3.8.2.IMPACT ON MASTICATION:

Mastication is the perception of an individual to chew.The number of teeth determines oral function and oral health quality [25, 26]. Evaluating the relationship between mastication and dentition, tooth numbers below 20 teeth, with nine to ten pairs of contacting units, are linked with impaired masticatory performance, and its ability [25].

Although some evidence tells that reduced oral activity in old people is concerned with muscle atrophy, aging has less effect on masticatory functions [29]. Most studies accept that denture wearers have only about one-fifth biting and masticatory force of dentate subjects [30]. Furthermore, complete denture wearers need 7 times more chewing strokes than those with natural dentitions to be able to cut food into half of its original size [31]. Moreover, the width of the masseter muscle was found to be reduced in edentulous patients, thus decreasing bite force [32].This may partly explain why subjects wearing complete dentures have more difficulty chewing hard foods. [33, 34]. As a result, research has continously showed that tooth loss and dental status have a bad effect on diet and food selection [20,

IMPACT ON ORAL HEALTH:

Edentulism can be followed by functional and sensory deficits of the oral tissues, muscles, and salivary glands. Reduced tissue regeneration and tissue resistance are expected in the edentulous population, which can effect the protective function of the oral mucosa. Relations have been reported between increased age, denture use, and oral mucosal disturbances, including denture stomatitis, an inflammatory condition in complete denture wearers, angular cheilitis, oral candidosis, and traumatic problems [36–38]. According to a study the odds of finding hyperplasia, stomatitis, and angular cheilitis increase 3-fold in denture wearers [36]. Such problems could expose the individual to internal and external pathogens, and their prevalence is an important scale in evaluating the oral health of an elderly. [39, 40]. The majority of oral mucosal problems in the elderly are mild, some may become problem, especially if the protective functions of oral mucosa are reduced