Abstract
The relationship between masticatory function and bone mineral density (BMD) is unclear. This cross-sectional study examined this relationship after adjusting for confounding factors. The subjects were 702 community-dwelling elderly adults (306 men, 396 women) who had been recruited for the Community-Based Healthcare Research and Education study in 2019. Objective masticatory function was assessed using the gummy jelly method. The median for each descriptive statistic was 69.0 years for age, 86.2% for the young adult mean, and 18.0 for masticatory function. Comparisons of the groups with good and poor masticatory function by sex revealed a significant difference in muscle mass and the tooth number for both sexes (p < 0.05). Men showed significant differences in age (p < 0.05) and salivary occult blood findings (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis using propensity scores showed a significant association between masticatory function and BMD in both sexes (men: odds ratio 163.0, 95% confidence interval 1.36–19,610.55, p = 0.04; women: odds ratio 48.65, 95% confidence interval 1.52–1561.15, p = 0.03 in women). Masticatory function and BMD in the community-dwelling elderly may be related. However, other factors, including frailty and sarcopenia, may also be involved. Regular oral health care by dentists and dental hygienists may benefit this population.
Highlights
The proportion of the Japanese population aged 65 years and older has increased from approximately 10% in 1985 to 21% in 2007, making Japan a super-aged society [1]
The major findings of the present study suggest that there might be an association between bone mineral density (BMD) and masticatory function in healthy elderly people in Japan, especially in rural areas in the southern part of Shimane Prefecture
Our target population can be considered a group of healthy elderly people who can come for checkups, and we believe our findings can be generalized to the healthy elderly population living in rural areas
Summary
The proportion of the Japanese population aged 65 years and older has increased from approximately 10% in 1985 to 21% in 2007, making Japan a super-aged society [1]. Along with the increasing number of older persons in Japan, a substantial increase in health care and social security problems is expected. Frailty represents a physiological decline in physical function, it is under the control of various social, mental, and physical environmental factors. Frailty is considered a precursor to disability, and various triggers, such as falls, hospitalization, institutionalization, bone fractures, and cognitive decline have been shown to lead to disease or disability, which in turn, is associated with various negative health outcomes [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. Salivary occult blood was evaluated using a urine occult blood test paper and a 5-point Likert scale (1, no occult blood; 5, severe disease [33,34,35])
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