The relationship between objective oral health conditions and subjective oral health perception of the elderly in Gimcheon

김천지역 노인의 객관적 구강건강상태와 주관적 구강건강인식간의 관련성

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between oral health conditions and their subjective oral health perception in the elderly in Gimcheon. Methods: The study subjects were 214 elderly aged over 65 years old in Gimcheon. The study was carried out by direct interview method of from February 20 to 24, 2014. The oral examination was performed by the dentist base on the World Health Organization criteria including direct examination and observation. The questionnaire consisted of sex, type of family, use of medical services, and oral health behavior, The independent variable included three questions of the general characteristics of the subjects, two questions of use of medical services, and two questions of oral health behavior. The subjective oral health perception was composed of heathy and unhealthy. The objective oral health condition was evaluated by number of residual teeth, FT index, MT index, and DMFT index. Results: In the elderly, the number of residual tooth was $8.89{\pm}9.72$ and the number of decayed teeth was $0.03{\pm}0.20$. The numbers of missing teeth and filled teeth were $19.26{\pm}9.65$ and $0.28{\pm}1.01$, respectively. The DMFT index was $19.57{\pm}9.28$. In relation to the subjective oral health perception, 76.6% answered 'good' and 23.4% answered 'bad'. The subjective oral health perception showed a weak quantitative linear relationship of r=0.235 with the number of residual tooth. the subjective oral health perception showed a weak negative linear relationship(p<0.01) of r=-0.225 with the number of missing teeth and r=-0.217 with DMFT(number of decayed missing and filled teeth) index.