Abstract
Little study has yet been made of the effect of different beverages on oral health outcomes in the aging population. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the association between different beverages, including alcohol intake, coffee, milk, tea, and sugary drinks, and a cluster of oral health outcomes, including periodontal disease, oral dysbiosis, and tooth loss in older adults. The literature was screened from the inception up to May 2021 using six different electronic databases. Two independent researchers assessed the eligibility of 1308 retrieved articles regarding inclusion criteria; only 12 fitted the eligibility requirements, representing 16 beverage entries. A minimum age of 60 was the inclusion criterion. No exclusion criteria were applied to outcomes assessment tools, recruiting facilities (hospital or community), general health status, country, and study type (longitudinal or cross-sectional). The consumption of alcoholic beverages was expressed as alcohol intake in all eligible studies, thereby replacing alcoholic beverages in the analysis. The quality of evidence was judged as moderate for alcohol and low or very low for beverages. In regard to oral health in the elderly, the review identified information on alcohol (56.25%), followed by coffee (18.75%), milk (12.50%), tea (6.25%), and sugary drinks (6.25%). Alcohol, sugary drinks, and coffee were found to be related to tooth loss. Periodontal disease was inversely related to coffee and milk, but fostered by alcohol consumption. In one article, tea but not coffee seemed to improve oral microbiota. In summary, alcohol seems to be a driver for tooth loss and periodontal disease in the aging population. However, more research is needed to gain a more solid knowledge in this research area.Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, PROSPERO, Identifier: CRD42021256386.
Highlights
Healthy aging is critical to a good quality of life in older adults, and to reducing the healthcare system burden
It should be borne in mind that in articles regarding oral health, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is usually calculated as alcohol intake [except for a single report that looks at alcoholic beverages [16]], so this was the exposure taken into account in this study
The final study base included 12 articles reporting on four different beverages, i.e., coffee, milk, tea, and sugary drinks, as well as alcohol intake
Summary
Healthy aging is critical to a good quality of life in older adults, and to reducing the healthcare system burden In this context, the deterioration of oral function, most often combined with an altered perception of taste and thirst, is a well-known but often overlooked adverse feature of the aging process [1]. Diet could be seen to contribute to the etiology of poor oral health, as a consequence of a dysfunctional oral health pattern, in older adults This can lead to feeding difficulties, resulting in changes in food choices likely to predispose to an increased risk of malnutrition and sarcopenia, resulting in loss of muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance [6,7,8,9]
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