The NHANES III survey indicated, that while over 90% of those 13 years old or older had experienced some minor loss of periodontal attachment, only 25% had attachment loss of 3 to 4 mm, and
only 15% had 5 mm or greater attachment loss.”
Attachment loss (both number of affected people and severity) increased with age. Gingival recession also increased with age.
While 86% of the older adults experienced some recession, only 40% of the overall population had recession.” More severe recession (3 mm or greater) affected half of older adults. Because of the increasing percentage of recession with age, there is a corresponding increased percentage of root caries.
Oral Cancer. Oral and pharyngeal cancer is the sixth most common neoplastic diseases An estimated 30,750 new cases of oropharyngeal cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 1999, which will be 3% of all cancers diagnosed .
The mortality rate associated with oral cancer has not improved in the last 40 years. Ultimately, 50% of people who have oral cancer die as a result of the malignancy, and 8440 deaths were predicted in the United States in 1999.
Teeth at Risk to Dental Disease. In 1989, Reinhardt and others used some survey results in combination with other studies and Bureau of Census population projections to determine and predict how many teeth would be at risk to dental disease. Their findings reported that in 1980 2.8 billion teeth were at risk to dental disease, with expectations of 4 billion in 1990, 4.4 billion by 2000, and 5 billion by 2030.
Thus between 1990 and 2030 there will be a projected increase of 1 billion teeth at risk to dental disease. This increase will occur because of a decreased rate of tooth loss combined with the aging of the baby boomers. Between 1990 and 2030, there will also be a projected 73% increase in people ages 45 and older and a 104% increase in senior adults, thereby resulting in 90% more teeth in the 45-and-older age group and 153% more teeth in the senior adult group.’
The future demand for operative dentistry care will increase. As previously noted, the population will increase, with the greatest increase occurring in the older adult component of society. Because these increased numbers of adults will retain more teeth, there will be more teeth at risk to dental disease, and many of these teeth will require operative care. In further exploring these expectations, several other factors must be addressed.