La percepción de salud bucal como medida de la calidad de vida en ancianos

Resumen

Dental research has focused mainly on the study of biological aspects, while subjective aspects have received little attention. Oral health must be seen as a component of quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between oral health perception and subjective well-being as a measure of quality of life in the elderly. Three instruments were used (subjective well-being, quality of life and oral health) on 80 elderly people. More importance is given to the teeth functionality and to the social component, and less to the emotional one. Oral health perception is not different between edentulous and people with teeth. On the other hand, the way oral health is perceived as related with well-being and quality of life. The perception of oral health can be considerated as a predicting factor of quality of life.