title: Investigating tooth loss and associated factors among older Taiwanese adults.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with tooth loss in older Taiwanese adults with different numbers of remaining teeth. This study evaluated oral health status and tooth loss among 2286 adults aged over 65. Subjects were classified according to number of teeth (Group 1 <20 teeth vs. Group 2 ≥20 teeth). Tooth loss and oral health data were collected from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), compared between groups and analyzed by multivariate modeling. Group 1 subjects were older and had more partial dentures. Tooth loss was associated with self-limited food choices due to oral health status, and malnutrition. Tooth loss in Group 2 subjects was significantly associated with lower mental status. Tooth loss may predict cognitive status (odds ratio (OR) 1.30) and physical-disability (OR 1.79). Our results suggested that tooth loss was associated with age, more partial dentures, self-limited food choices, malnutrition, and lower mental and cognitive status and physical disability.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: fang@ym.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Tze-Fang
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Food and Drug Administration Section, Public Health Bureau, Taoyuan County Government, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ying-Yu
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yiing-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Liou
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, DDS, Dr.PH, USA.
authors.forename: Chyuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009909:Oral Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Epidemiology; Health survey; Older adults; Oral health; Tooth loss