ABSTRACT
Objective: Geriatric dentistry refers to dealing with oral diseases in old individuals including prevention and treatment. The aim of this investigation was to examine the types and frequency of oral lesions in elderly.
Materials and methods: The study involved 75 elderly. The clinical diagnosis was established according to the correlation in the aetiological factor associated to the lesion by systematic examination of oral mucosa and classifying those alterations according to the Epidemiology guide for the diagnosis of oral mucosal diseases. During the clinical examination the following elements were analysed: features of the lesion, anatomical location, extension, aetiological factors or related factors, dental status, alcohol, tobacco, trauma, use of prosthesis and if these were well adapted.
Results: Sixty lesions were diagnosed in 75 patients. These were classified according to clinical, histopathological and microbiological diagnosis and were distributed in 15 different clinical entities. The more prevalent pathologies were inflammatory, reactive, associated to long use of prostheses or not well adapted, since a 67% of the patients with lesions were using prostheses. Of the lesions related to prosthesis use, denture stomatitis was the most common one representing 20 cases (33.3%). The second most frequent lesions in this study were Lingua plicata, Xerostomia and Pseudomembranous Candidiasis.
Conclusion: Oral and perioral tissues undergo different functional and structural changes with ageing. The role of the dentist and stomatologist includes the management of systemic, nutritional and pharmacological oral manifestations in order to establish an early diagnosis and subsequently an accurate treatment.