title: Association between underweight and tooth loss among Korean adults.
abstract: There is growing interest in the relationship between body mass index and oral health. Previous study showed that being underweight was significantly associated with having lower masticatory performance. This study was performed to assess the relationship between an underweight body mass index lower than 18.5 and the number of natural teeth using nationally representative data. Initially, a total of 25,534 individuals were candidates in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The analysis in this study was confined to 17,870 subjects who were 19 years or older and without missing values for outcome variables. Body mass index and number of natural teeth were evaluated. Multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk of tooth loss in relation to body mass index. Adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals for chewing discomfort in individuals who were underweight, normal, overweight, obese, and extremely obese were 1.712(1.156-2.535), 1.111(0.939-1.315), 1(reference), 0.949(0.798-1.128), and 1.172(0.807-1.700), respectively, after adjustment. The association between underweight and tooth loss was proven by multiple logistic regression analyses after adjusting for confounding factors. Underweight may be considered a potential risk indicator for tooth loss in Korean adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In-Seok
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyungdo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009909:Oral Health; D013851:Thinness / Q000150:complications*; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000150:complications*