Tooth Loss in Older Adults: A Focus on the Determinants of Health

Abstract

Introduction: Being an older adult is a risk for the occurrence of systemic multimorbidities. Edentulism is closely related to the structural and intermediate determinants of health, and they influence the association of being partially or totally edentulous. Objective: To analyze, from the context of health determinants, the process of tooth loss in older adults. Materials and Methods: An integrative documentary-type review was carried out in the databases Scopus, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, Pubmed, using the descriptors "Tooth Loss", "Older Adults", "relationship with structural and intermediate determinants", "oral health determinants", and AND connectors, including references published since 2018, in English and Spanish languages with scientific information on the determinants of health and tooth loss in older adults,  were recovered a total of 462 records, of which 68 were chosen.. Conclusions: Presenting edentulism is related to the determinants of health. Components such as the economic, social and political order influence the health conditions of the geriatric population. Health determinants act as risk factors for tooth loss in older adults. Socioeconomic contexts contribute to the prevalence of systemic multimorbidities. There is a connection between tooth loss in older adults and the determinants of dental health.