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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, January 2, 2004

State's elderly hang on to teeth

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

Good dental habits and early care are probably why Bernard Akamine still has all of his teeth at age 81.

"I floss after every meal and I go to the dentist twice a year," said the St. Louis Heights resident. His wife, Jeanette, 79, also has all of her teeth.

Bernard Akamine said that as a child in Depression-era Hawai'i, he got dental care from public service dentists at the Palama Settlement — and the fillings lasted well into his 50s.

Hawai'i residents like the Akamines who are 65 and older do a good job of keeping their natural teeth, compared with older adults in other states, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released in December.

Only 13.1 percent of Hawai'i's older adults reported losing all their teeth — the best rate in the country. California was a close second with 13.3 percent, followed by Utah and Minnesota, both at nearly 15 percent.

Hawai'i ranked fourth in percentage of people who are 65 or older and have most of their teeth — at 59.8 percent. Utah was tops at 63.5 percent, followed by California and Colorado.

The findings should not come as a surprise, said Mark Greer, chief of the state Department of Health's Dental Health Division. The CDC earlier reported that Hawai'i had the highest rate of dental insurance coverage among the elderly and high rates of dental care utilization.

Kentucky and West Virginia had the worst results among the 50 states, with 42 percent of older adults in both states reporting they had lost all their teeth. In West Virginia, only 26.6 percent reported having most of their natural teeth.

Factors contributing to the retention of teeth included higher levels of education and income, and whether the person was a nonsmoker.

The study was based on an analysis of data from the 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.

Contact Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.