During the past several decades, there has been a steady reduction in both edentulism and numbers of teeth lost per person. While these trends indicate that edentulism may be disappearing, partial edentulism will continue.
While in 1988 to 1991, more than 9 out of 10 adults (18 years and older) were dentate, only about 30% had all of their teeth .36 Those adults who had teeth averaged 23.5 teeth . 36 Both edentulism and the number of teeth present are strongly influenced by age. For example, the 1988 to 1991 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III revealed that 100% of the group ages 18 to 24 were dentate, while 44% of the group 75 years and older were edentulous. Likewise, the 18- to 24-year-old dentate group averaged 27.1 teeth, while the 75-years-and-older group had only 9 teeth.
However, the older age groups still showed the greatest decreases in edentulism and increases in retained teeth. In a 1971 to 1974 survey, 45.6% of people ages 65 to 74 were edentulous. In the NHANES 1111988 to 1991 survey only 28.6% of this age group was edentulous, and half of those were edentulous 20 years before the survey, indicating that only about 12% of that age group had actually become edentulous in the last 20 years.
Edentulism will continue to decrease, and more teeth will be retained. This will result in more teeth being at risk to dental disease, which may result in both increased need and demand for dental care.