OBJECTIVETo study the dental caries status of the 65-74 years old people in northeast of China, analyze the distribution of caries in the group of people, and provide scientific basis for establishing the oral health care policies.

METHODSThe representative samples were selected by multi-stage, stratified and random sampling from the three province of northeast of China. Dental caries of 2 364 people aged 65-74 were recorded according to WHO criteria. SPSS 12.0 software was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS1) Among 2,364 elderly people in northeast of China, the prevalence of dental caries was 67.5% and DFT was 2.68, the composition of filling was 10.82%. 2) The prevalence of coronal caries was 66.4% and DFT was 2.55. The composition of filling was 11.37%. 3) The prevalence of root surface caries was 48.4% and DFT was 1.64. The composition of filling was only 1.8%.

CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of dental caries among elderly people in northeast of China is still very high, and the filling rate is low. The community based oral health promotion should be strengthened and preventive-oriented oral health care systems are needed in northeast of China.