A Review of Regional Studies on the Dental Health of Older Canadians1

The last national survey of dental health in Canada was conducted in 1970–72 as part of the Nutrition Canada study. In that survey, 52% of Canadians over 60 were found to be edentulous. In 1980, epidemiologists in Quebec conducted the only provincewide, population-based survey of seniors and found 72% were edentulous. In Ontario, published local or regional surveys and province-wide interview data, obtained over the past 20 years, show that between 81% and 51% of those over 65 years of age were edentulous with the lower rates found in the more independently living, younger elderly, and in the more recent studies. Further, between 18% and 42.5% of those over 65 had visited a dentist in the previous year with higher rates among dentate and independently living elderly. Dental treatment needs were higher among the dentale and the institutionalized. These data are contrasted with recent findings from a population-based study in East York, Ontario, and local data from British Columbia, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island. The regional differences in health and the trends to increased life span, less edentulism and increased rates of visiting present challenges to Canadian policy makers and dental practitioners.