People aging 74 years and more are in Parma province about 11,5% of residents. Disability conditions and familiar ties loss frequently let the elderly to recovery in long term home care where quality of care became synonymous of quality of life. To best evaluate oral health conditions in institutionalized elderly and their needs of care, we conducted, between August 2002 and July 2003 a cross-sectional study with clinical oral examinations in 200 long-term patients. Number of teeth, tooth remnants, mucosal findings, edentulousness, level of dental hygiene, needs for operative treatment and prevalence of systemic disease associated were evaluated. Subjects' mean age was 84,4 years (interval 57 _ 105); 59% were edentulous. As reported by several authors, a correlation between edentulousness and cardiovascular disease was found even after controlling for confounding variables (age, sex, smoking habit and Alzheimer disease).