Oral health issues of early baby boomers.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to detail the oral health status of early baby boomers and how it is affected by the cultural influences after World War II.

METHODS: National data on clinically and self-assessed oral conditions from the 2021 NIDCR Oral Health in America Report, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2014), Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute (2018), the Indian Health Service (2022), and the Health and Retirement Study (2018) were tabulated and compared (where available) to similar data for older and younger cohorts.

RESULTS: Data analyses show that there is more tooth retention overall. There are higher levels of tooth loss, unrestored caries, and periodontitis among Black, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Hispanic baby boomers, and the poor. Smokers had higher rates of periodontitis.

CONCLUSION: A life course approach to oral health care is warranted. Only by regular access and preventive care throughout life can avoidable, unnecessary, overly complex, and invasive procedures be prevented.