#7

The observations of dentists who concentrate in serving elderly patients comport with the findings in this study. They have observed that elderly edentulous people who do not wear dentures tend to slouch, kept to themselves, and become inactive. When they obtain dentures, noticeable changes occur, even if they are not comfortable enough to eat with them. They begin to stand up straighter, to smile, and to socialize with others. They take pride in their appearances and begin to view themselves as worth caring about.

In addition to the effects on the edentulous person's self-esteem and social behavior, the lack of dentures or adequate dentures may present a direct limitation on such pleasurable activities as eating. In a study of elderly persons, the number of specific common foods included the subjects' diets appeared to be partially related t the dentures used or not used for chewing. The study further reported:

"For many of the subjects, eating is one of the few remaining accessible pleasures. On numbers of occasions, subjects expressed considerable sadness about their inability to chew their favorite foods. Some foods are excluded because of the price and by the difficulty of preparation; it is therefore most unfortunate when the diet is even further narrowed by difficulty in chewing foods which give pleasure."

Having adequate dentures, then, seems to have a significant impact on the quality of life of edentulous people.