TOOTH LOSS AND RISK FACTORS AMONG ELDERLY VIETNAMESE
three-fourths of the Chinese aged 65 – 74 years old had missing teeth more often than those who regularly visited a dentist . 8 The risk factors for tooth loss have been studied all over the world . However , as far as we know , no data have been reported on the risk factors of tooth loss in Vietnam . Lack of knowledge among elderly Vietnamese regarding oral health might be influenced by the level of education . 21 Forty percent of the elderly Vietnamese in the current study who were in education ≤5 years had lost on average 10.2 teeth . Their education might have been interrupted due to the Vietnam War ( 1945 – 1975 ). The subjects believe that the prolonging of a tooth in their mouth would have an adverse impact on the life of their descendants . Also , the elders with less time in education were significantly associated with the odds of losing > 6 teeth ( OR = 2.2 ), it might be due to the lack of awareness about oral health behaviours for maintaining teeth . In the current study , we found that smokers ( 23.4 %) had significantly higher tooth loss ( 9.3 ± 7.6 ) than non-smokers ( 7.2 ± 6.8 ). It could be due to the wellknown fact that tobacco smoking can increase the risk for periodontitis . Substances in tobacco might facilitate the accumulation of bacteria and lead to the destruction of tooth-supporting tissue . 22 Our study indicated that the odds ratio for smokers losing > 6 teeth was 2.8 in comparison to nonsmokers . These results are similar to those of studies in Japan and China . 23 , 8 Reports about the relationship between alcohol consumption and tooth loss have been focused on dose-related effects . Some studies have shown that drinking causes periodontitis , with the latter considered a risk factor for tooth loss . 7 , 24 However , alcohol consumption was not considered as indicator for the losing > 6 teeth in the current study . The similar findings were also reported by Yoshioka et al ., 23 and Eustaquio-Raga et al . 25 The shortcomings of our study were that the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption were not accurately measured , and the reason for tooth loss ( due to dental caries or periodontal disease ) could not be exactly determined . A further study is required to investigate the impact of tooth loss on the function of the stomatognathic system in the elderly persons .
5 . Conclusions
The obtained data allowed us to conclude that there were high prevalence and the number of tooth loss among elderly Vietnamese . Smoking behaviour and time in education were significantly related to maintaining teeth of the elderly community population . The data serves the setting up of oral health intervention programme for the older Vietnamese .
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by an Estonian Science Foundation grant ( No . 9255 ), IUT20 – 46 grant from the Estonian Research Council and the DoRa Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme . The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this study .
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