Association of oral disease with 12 selected variables. II. Edentulism.

It has been estimated that 18% of the adult population of the United States is edentulous.1 Epidemiologically, however, little is known about the edentulous. This report describes some of the characteristics of a group of edentulous persons and compares them with those of dentulous persons. Of the social and physiologic measurements obtained during the initial investigation in the Tecumseh Community Health Study,2'3 12 variables were used for this comparison. For the purposes of this report, an edentulous subject was defined as any adult, at least 20 years of age, who had no teeth visible in the oral cavity. According to previous reports,1'4 the percentage of adults who are edentulous, not including those who are edentulous in only one arch, rises from less than 10% at the age of 40 to more than 50% at age 65. Reports of tooth mortality have indicated that dental caries accounts for 60% of all teeth lost in persons less than 35 years of age, whereas periodontal disease accounts for nearly 80% of all teeth lost in persons more than 35 years of age.