In 1990, 364 elderly (76-86 years) inhabitants of Helsinki, Finland, attended a dental and oral examination study that was conducted as part of the Helsinki Aging Study. In spring 1996, these subjects were recalled for a 5-year follow-up. Between the baseline and follow-up examinations, 114 (31%) subjects had deceased (86 women and 28 men), whereas 134 had either moved, were too ill, or refused to participate in the follow-up. Follow-up examination was conducted for 113 subjects (79 women and 34 men), with the participating rate being 46%. Five subjects became edentulous during the follow-up. Of the subjects, 61% had 1-32 teeth at follow-up. In these subjects, the mean number of teeth decreased from 14.9 (+/-8.3) to 13.5 (+/-8.6) (P
