Denture wearing associated with malnutrition among elderly and requires long-term care

Written By : Dr. Shravani Dali |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2022-09-01T20:00:01+05:30 | Updated On 1 Sept 2022 8:00 PM IST

Denture use, lip-closure ability, and activities of daily living were significantly associated with malnutrition in older adults according to a recent study published in the Journal of Dental Sciences

In recent years, Japan and other developed countries have faced a super-ageing society; therefore, extending healthy life expectancy has become an important social issue. Previous reports have revealed oral health status plays an important role in maintaining nutritional status. Dentures are important for the reconstruction of occlusal support and masticatory performance for older adults with poor dentition. We aimed to elucidate the oral health factors associated with malnutrition in older adults requiring long-term care, including denture use.

This cross-sectional study included 322 older adults (63 men, 259 women; mean age, 86.6 ± 6.9 years) who required long-term care in rural Japan. The participant's nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA®-SF). Oral health was assessed using the participant's dentition and oral function. Barthel Index (BI) and medical history were measured for assessing general health status. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the oral health factors associated with malnutrition.

Results of the study are:

The proportion of participants with malnutrition was 17.2%. The BI score having <20 teeth and dentures and poor lip-closure ability were significantly associated with malnutrition.

Thus, denture use, lip-closure ability, and activities of daily living were significantly associated with malnutrition in older adults requiring long-term care, suggesting that wearing dentures for tooth loss and maintaining oral function contributes to nutritional status.

Reference:

Meguro A, Ohara Y, Iwasaki M, et al. Denture wearing is associated with nutritional status among older adults requiring long-term care: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Dental Sciences. 2022 Jan;17(1):500-506. DOI: 10.1016/j.jds.2021.07.022. PMID: 35028076; PMCID: PMC8739738.

Keywords:

Denture, wearing, associated, nutritional, status, among, older, adults, requiring, long-term care, Meguro, Ohara, Iwasaki, Edahiro, Shirobe, Igarashi, Motokawa, Ito , Watanabe Y, Kawai Y, Hirano H, Journal of Dental Sciences

Removal dentureNutritional statusOral functionLong-term careJournal of Dental Sciences

Source : Journal of Dental Sciences

Dr. Shravani Dali

Dr. Shravani Dali has completed her BDS from Pravara institute of medical sciences, loni. Following which she extensively worked in the healthcare sector for 2+ years. She has been actively involved in writing blogs in field of health and wellness. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of public health-health administration from Tata institute of social sciences. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751