Dental and Oral Health Profile of Elderly People in Various Geographic Areas in Jember Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

People often adjust their behavioral pattern to the physical conditions of local environment, especially for elderly dental and oral health. Elderly is a population which is very vulnerable to environmental changes and diseases. Elderly people who have good oral health are expected to have good general health. This study focuses on dental and oral health profiles of elderly in the different residential location. Geographically, the locations of elderly resident are divided into 4 areas, i.e. urban, agricultural, highland/mountain and coastal areas. This research was carried out using a cross sectional approach. The research population was elderly aged more than 45 years. Research subjects were determined using cluster random sampling based on the geographic residential areas (n=229). Measurements of dental and oral health profile were based on the Decay-Missing-Filling-Teeth (DMF-T) indicators and the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S). 229 research subjects were analyzed using Kruskall Wallis tests. The results show that most of the elderly have poor dental and oral health profile. However, the elderly who live in the coastal area have better dental and oral health profile. Meanwhile, the elderly who live in the highland area have the worst profile of oral and dental health compared to the elderly who live in other areas.