CORRELATION OF ORAL HEALTH STATUS WITH GENERAL HEALTH IN ELDERLY LIVING AT RESIDENTIAL HOMES IN GEORGIA.

The aim of the study was to assess oral health status and its correlations with the general health in older adults living in residential houses in Georgia. The study was conducted in 2017-2018 years based on WHO recommendations. The study got approval from bioethical council of National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, protocol #2017-039, 28.06.2017y. 300 voluntary residents from various residential houses for older people (aged 65 years and more) were observed in regions of Georgia: "Basiliada" (Tbilisi), residential home of municipality of Samtredia, (Imereti), residential home "Carefree old age" (Kakheti). Age groups were divided as following: 65-74; 75-84; 85<. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used for statistical analysis. DMFT was assessed to be 28.74. Significantly high prevalence of needs of prosthetic treatment 91.1% (p=0.0005), full edentulism 36.2% (p=0.0049), participants with the extraction of more than 20 teeth 81.3% (p=0.0000) and unsatisfactory oral hygiene 39.3% (p=0.0003) were observed. Prevalence of systemic diseases was assessed as the following: cardiovascular disease - 56%, gastroenterologycal diseases - 6%, diabetes - 2.9%, respiratory disease - 8.4%, oncological disease - 6.7%, dementia - 24.2 %.( p<0.005). Cardiovascular system diseases appeared to be one of the most commonly encountered diseases in dental practice. Based on the study results new program was created "Improve of oral hygiene of older adults living in residential homes in Georgia" in order to increase their access to the dental care, including preventive dental care and improve oral health related quality of life.