Abstract
General health and oral health are very closely related. This study aimed to analyze the nutritional factors associated with the number of present teeth in Korean elderly adults. A total of 6,356 individuals were surveyed from the sixth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 2013–2015. The number of existing teeth was divided into three categories: 0–10, 11–20, and over 21, and the nutrition survey covers eating habits, food frequency and food intake using face-to-face interviews. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between nutrient intake and the number of existing teeth after adjusting for socio-demographic factors and general and oral health behaviors and status. As age increases, the number of teeth decreases. Individuals with more teeth had a significantly higher mean daily intake of protein, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and riboflavin (p < 0.05). After adjusting for sociodemographic factors in model 1 and the lower number of teeth in model 2, the strength of the association between the number of teeth and daily calcium intake remained significant. Statistically significant associations were present for dietary potassium intake in models 1 and 2 and in the 11–20 teeth group in model 3 (p < 0.05). We demonstrated a significant association between calcium and potassium intake and the number of teeth.
Highlights
General health and oral health are very closely related
Analysis of the effects of tooth loss on nutrient intake showed that dietary fiber, carotene, fruits and vegetables have decreased as natural teeth decrease, while the average intake of calories and saturated fats and cholesterol tends to increase with the decrease in the number of teeth[14]
Blood pressure and periodontal disease increased due to decrease in potassium intake accompanying dietary fiber intake, and this results can be inferred that blood pressure and periodontal disease may decrease by increasing potassium c onsumption[15]
Summary
General health and oral health are very closely related. This study aimed to analyze the nutritional factors associated with the number of present teeth in Korean elderly adults. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between nutrient intake and the number of existing teeth after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and general and oral health behaviors and status. Tooth loss due to oral health leads to a decrease in chewing ability and it can limit a person’s diet to one of bad nutritional qualities and affect nutritional status It could affect the general health for many p eople[8]. There have been cases in which national research has conducted and reported dietary patterns for the elderly or dietary analysis related to oral disease, while there have been studies focusing on calcium, phosphorus and vitamins in the relationship between existing number of teeth and nutrients, but there are very few research reports on minerals including potassium reported to be closely related to periodontal disease
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