Tooth loss and its psychosocial consequences in adults and older people

Abstract

Introduction: It is clear that tooth loss is an obstacle to be dealt with in oral health and it is still considered a public health problem in Brazil that brings physical and psychological consequences mainly for adults and older people. Objective: To describe the main psychosocial consequences caused by tooth loss in adults and older people. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review in which an electronic bibliographic search with a publication time interval of six years (2016 - 2022) was performed in the Virtual Health Library (BVS) and Scientific Electronic Library Online databases (SciELO). The descriptors Tooth Loss, Oral Health, Psychosocial Impact, Adult and Elderly were used with interposition of the Boolean operator “AND”. Articles in Portuguese and English whose title, abstract and full text were related to the theme were selected. Publications such as undergraduate theses, master’s dissertations, doctoral theses, book chapters, books, and articles that did not address the topic were excluded. Results: A total of 14 articles were used to compose the theoretical framework of the review and all brought relevant information as to the association between tooth loss and the psychosocial impact on the target audience. Conclusion: Tooth loss affects people’s quality of life. Psychological factors such as shyness, shame, and change in routines influence the social life of adults and older people.

Keywords: Tooth Loss. Oral Healt. Psychosocial Impact. Adult. Aged.