Prevalence of edentulism among adults aged 35 years and over and associated factors in Yasooj

The final outcome of dental caries and periodontal diseases is edentulism. Edentulism makes functional and esthetic demands on patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of edentulism and associated factors among adults over 35 years of age to use the results in public health promotion and disease prevention programs. In this descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, 400 subjects (200 females and 200 males) aged 35 years and older were selected in Yasooj by random cluster sampling method. Each subject’s name, age, sex, job and income, history of smoking, xerostomia, history of systemic diseases, oral hygiene, nutritional status, history of dental examinations and reasons for edentulism were recorded in a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for analysis of data (α = 0.05). The prevalence of edentulism in cases classified into three groups was: 9.5% of 35-44 year-old subjects, 40.7% of 45-64 year-old subjects, and 71.1% of subjects over 65 years of age. The prevalence of edentulism was the same in males and females. The prevalence of edentulism increases with age. There is no significant relation between edentulism and gender. The relation between edentulism and other associated factors is significant.