Objectives: It is desirable to retain a greater number of natural teeth for long-term maintenance of a healthy chewing function. This study was conducted to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD), a measure of health of the bone, and to identify a factor contributing to the preservation of teeth in the elderly with many remaining teeth. Methods: The study included 64 individuals aged 80 years or older (mean age 84.50) with 20 or more remaining teeth who took part in the 8020 campaign held since 10 years ago in Japan. Among the subjects were 34 males with a mean age of 84.56 and the oldest of 93, and 28females with a mean age 84.43 and the oldest of 89. An ultrasonic bone analyzer(Cuba Clinical-McCue,England),which is easy to use with no exposure to radiation, was utilized to measure Broadband Ultrasonic Attenuation (BUA). Results: The mean BUA of male was 56.10 S.D.17.82 and female was 36.58 S.D.14.14 with a significant difference between male and females(p<0.01). There was weak correlation(0.43) between BUA and number of teeth in males, while no correlation was noted in females. Conclusions: These results indicated that the difference of BUA was clarified between elderly male and elderly female, and there might be relation between BUA and number of teeth in elderly male.

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