MOREIRA, Núbia; FERRAZ, Rosilene Guimarães; GOMES, Ana Maria Martins    GOMES, Antônio Augusto. Prevalence of edentulism in descendents of pomeranians. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) []. 2010, 58, 2, pp. 219-223. ISSN 1981-8637.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of edentulism and use of complete dentures in the population of Tijuco Preto, located in municipality of Domingos Martins, a region of rural houses and economy in the mountains of the estate of Espírito Santo, where descendants of Pomeranian Germans predominate. METHODS: An epidemiological survey done in 2006 was used to collect data of 186 randomly selected individuals (76 males and 110 females). This descriptive study consisted of an interview followed by clinical examination. RESULTS: Most of the population (73.12%) presented edentulism. Females had 10.17% more edentulous jaws than males. Edentulism was more common in the maxilla (136) than in the mandible (56). Only 8.3% of the sample did not wear prostheses, being 14 in the mandible and two in both jaws. From the entire sample, 48.14%, 29.1% and 10.4% had worn the same prostheses for 10, 20 and 30 years, respectively. Nearly all the dentures (97.01%) had been made by uncertified professionals and 95.38% were ill-fitting. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of edentulism is very high, even among the young. Edentulism is associated with the female gender and is more common in the upper jaw than in the lower jaw. The use of complete dentures is more common in the upper jaw than in the lower jaw and they are used for more than 10 years. Most of the denture wearers wished to replace them since most of the complete dentures had been made by uncertified professionals and were considered unsatisfactory.

: jaw edentulous; epidemiology; denture complete.