Background:

Elderly people require dental care adjusted to their oral health.

Objective:

To describe the oral health of the elderly belonging to the Provincial Home of Sancti Spíritus.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out in the Provincial Nursing Home of Sancti Spíritus, between December 2019 and August 2020. 72 elderly were selected, according to inclusion criteria. Theoretical, empirical and statistical level methods were used to study the variables: oral diseases, risk factors, oral hygiene, level of knowledge about oral health and self-perception of oral health.

Results:

In the elderly, periodontal disease (29.4 %) and masticatory dysfunction (28.6 %) predominated; the risk factors that were observed were sugary diet (12.8 %) and diabetes mellitus (12.5 %), poor oral hygiene (58.3%), poor level of knowledge (51.4 %) and low self-perception of oral health (54.2 %).

Conclusion:

The oral health of the elderly studied was characterized by presenting periodontal disease and masticatory dysfunction in almost a third of them, with a predominance of sugary diets and diabetes mellitus as risk factors, and more than half presented poor oral hygiene, level of poor knowledge and low self-perception of oral health.

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