Recovering oral hypofunction and preventing fragility at the undergraduate level

Abstract

Objective: To characterize prosthetic needs, to define immediate clinical interventions, and thus, establish immediate recovery of oral hypofunction in the elderly, in undergraduate training in dentistry

Methods: An observational study involving elderly patients admitted for treatment at the Senior Citizens Clinic or the emergency department of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Chile from 2024 to 2025. Inclusion criteria: reason for consultation: "I want to be able to eat, swallow, and socialize without embarrassment." Technical errors were identified, and clinical interventions were completed in one or two sessions. The Eichner index was used to characterize masticatory function, and prosthetic conditions were evaluated regarding lack of support, retention or stability, loss of occlusion, abutments, fractures, and oral mucosal lesions. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: n = 57 patients, average age 70 years, 61.4% women, and 52.6% in category C according to the Eichner index. Needs: loss of biomechanical properties (43.9%), required repair through tooth extraction (19.3%), fractures of various parts of the prosthetic apparatus (17.5%), lack of occlusion between the prosthetic antagonist teeth (14.1%), prosthesis that caused epulis (1.8%), and prosthesis in disuse due to pain or compression (3.5%).

Conclusions: Prosthetic needs were identified, and the necessary clinical interventions were implemented to promptly address oral hypofunction during undergraduate training.