|
For this study, questionnaire sheets were distributed to 111 people with dental prosthesis who are participating in the programs run by the Community Health Care Center to explore and develop the way of oral health education for improvement of the lives of old people in the local community. The data were analyzed by frequency, percentage and z² -test using SPSS WIN. The results of the study are as follows : l. As for the satisfactory level of the dental prosthesis treatment, 43.2％ of the respondents who began to use dental prosthesis after 61 years old. 32.4％ of the respondents used partial denture. 42.3％ of the respondents expected that they would be a little satisfied with the dental treatment. 36.0％of the respondents showed average satisfaction on the dental prosthesis treatment and the most unsatisfactory factor of the dental prosthesis was high cost, by 36.0％ of the respondents. 2. As for chewing after wearing the dental prosthesis, 65.8% of the responses felt comfortable during chewing and 53.2％ felt uncomfortable during chewing. 86.5％ felt uncomfortable during swallowing. 68.5% said that they didn’t bite the tongue or cheek during chewing and 64.0 said they use only one side of the prosthesis during chewing. 3. As for the pronunciation with dental prosthesis 76.69％ of the respondents told that speaking became easy after wearing dental prosthesis. 76.6％ said the prosthesis never slipped from the alveolar ridges during talks. 71.2％ said the prosthesis never collided each other while speaking. 68.5％ said there was no feeling of tongue tightness or tongue’s being disturbed. 60.4％ said they felt no difficulty in specific pronunciation due to the dental prosthesis. 4. As for eating after wearing the dental prostheses, 52.3％ of the respondents said that eating got roughly easy. As for the kind of food mostly eaten, boiled vegetables or boiled cereals were chosen by 78.4％. As for the inconvenience during eating due to the dental prostheses, 41.4％ selected average level and there was significant difference between male and female (p<.019). 42.3 ％ responded that the influence of the dental prostheses on eating habit was mostly existent. 5. As for the change of life after wearing the dental prostheses, 35.1％ of the respondents said that the kinds and numbers of chewable food with dental prostheses decreased. 31.5％ said there were few changes in esthetic side and 55.9％ said there were few changes in psychological side. 47.7％ responded that there were relationship between dental prostheses and the quality of life. As the average life length has increased thanks to the development of medical science, the interest in the welfare of the elderly has also increased among the government and the people. Men experience aging as they become older and also their mouths meet unfavorable condition including the loss of natural teeth. Therefore, the dental treatment, especially making of dental prostheses, needs extensive knowledge for aging, clinical knowledge and technology. For systematic oral health care for the old, medical service including oral health education and periodic oral examination should be extended with the financial support from the government to improve the life quality of the elderly.
|