Quality of life: use of dentures in elderly, Bauru, Brazil

Objective: to relate the need and use of dental prostheses with the main factors that affect overall health quality of life of elderly in Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil.

Method: 111 seniors participated in the survey on the outskirts of Bauru / SP, with 18 in socioeconomic  class D, 38 in C, 47 in B, and only  8 in A. We performed a descriptive analysis, based on questionnaires socioeconomic and general health, describing the results of numerical and percentage terms. To analyze the quality of life it was used the WHOQOL-Bref, applying after the program SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), for non-parametric correlation of Spearmann

Result: The main factors that interfere with their quality of life, considered moderate, are: ability to perform day-to-day (physical domain), enjoyment of life (psychological domain), relationships (social relationships domain) and financial resources (domain environment). As for general health, we can observe that 60.4% of seniors reported that they never had depression, 73.9% never smoked, 87.4% did not use alcohol drinks, 45.9% had never complained of memory and 55% had sleep-related complaints. As for oral health, 73% of respondents make use of dental prostheses but only 7.2% of them found the Dentist for repairs / new, and 69.4% were satisfied with their use.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the elderly population studied, the majority of respondents use dental prostheses and is pleased with her and, although only a small percentage search for Dentist, appear to be satisfied with it in your everyday life. As the Bauru Public Health Service (Family Health Program), maintains the professional Dentist available in the neighborhood, we recommend develop a special motivation (health promotion), in order that the elderly seek the dental services offered.