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Of a representative sample of 8000 persons aged 30 and over living in Finland, 3875 users of removable dentures were examined. The condition of the oral mucosa was recorded during clinical examinations. The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions associated with removable dentures was analyzed according to age, sex, place of residence, geographical region of living, and type and location of prosthesis. Lesions were found in about 50% of the denture wearers. Women were affected more often than men. The prevalence of lesions decreased with age and differed slightly according to region of living and place of residence. Compared with the wearing of partial dentures, wearing complete dentures increased the risk of lesions. Only one of the 72 denture users who wore a denture with metallic base plate had oral mucosal lesions associated with wearing a denture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study was to evaluate the benefit left from free dental care at public school after an average time interval of 7 years (mean: 7.03 years). The school dental service given to 66 Army recruits was extracted from their respective school dental care records, arid then compared with the caries situation at the time of their military service. The results showed that the average number of 10.42 filled and extracted tooth surfaces at the end of school dental care had increased to a score of 36.72 DMFS 7 years later. The increase was significantly higher than expected on the basis of the average caries development between ages 7 and 15 years. Of the teeth filled during school dental care, only 26% were in no need of additional treatment, 15 % had been properly retreated afterwards and the rest were either decayed (35 %), retreated and redecayed (13 %) or extracted (11 %). Of the teeth that had been given root canal treatment at school, 27 % had been extracted within the following 7 years. The caries situation was worst in the group of recruits who had had free dental care for the longest period of time. It was concluded that constant free repair of the teeth does not seem to give long term relief from the caries problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]