The Relationship Between The Attitude of Maintaining Dental Health and Tooth Loss in The Elderly at The Hargodedali Nursing Home Surabaya in 2022

Abstract

Background:Tooth loss can be classified as an oral cavity problem. The cause of tooth
loss is often caused by disease factors such as caries and periodontal disease. Health
behavior consists of knowledge, attitudes and actions that contribute to determining health
status. Other factors such as trauma, attitudes and characteristics towards dental health
services, social factors, demographics, and lifestyle also influence tooth loss.
Objective: to determine the relationship between dental health care attitudes and tooth loss
in the elderly.
Method: This research is a cross-sectional study which was conducted in July 2022 at the
Hargodedali Nursing Home in Surabaya. The research subjects were 35 elderly who met
the criteria taken by purposive sampling technique. The data collection instrument used a
questionnaire to determine the attitude of maintaining dental health, and dental
examination to determine the number of missing elderly teeth. Chi-Square test to analyze
the relationship between dental health care attitudes and tooth loss in the elderly with a
degree of significance (α) = 0.05.
Result: of 27 elderly people who do not have dental function or less than 20 teeth, 11 of
them have negative dental health maintenance attitudes, the remaining 16 have positive
dental health maintenance attitudes, while 8 elderly who have dental function or more than
20 teeth 5 of them have a very positive attitude to maintaining dental health and the rest
have a positive attitude. This shows that only the elderly who do not have functional teeth
have negative dental health maintenance attitudes.
Conclusion: There is a relationship between the attitude of maintaining dental health with
tooth loss in the elderly.