[Association between oral health and cognitive decline in older Chileans]

Abstract

Objective: To identify the association between oral health and suspected cognitive impairment in older adults in Chile.

Method: Cross-sectional study including 1826 people ≥60 years who participated in the National Health Survey of Chile, 2016-2017. Oral health was evaluated by the number of teeth, presence of caries, use of dental prostheses, self-reported oral health, and pain and/or discomfort in the oral cavity. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The association was evaluated by logistic and linear regression, adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle variables.

Results: Compared with people without suspicion of cognitive impairment, people with suspected impairment had five fewer teeth (13.4 vs. 8.5 teeth), a much higher difference in women than in men, and a higher frequency of oral pain. Edentulism and fewer teeth were associated with a higher likelihood of suspected cognitive impairment, associations that were not maintained in adjusted models. Oral pain was associated with a higher likelihood of suspected impairment even in the most adjusted model (odds ratio: 1.99; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.09-3.63). In linear models, an increase of 2% (95%CI: 0.01-0.05) in the MMSE score was observed for each additional tooth.

Conclusions: Poor oral health, particularly tooth loss and the presence of pain, was associated with cognitive impairment in older adults in Chile.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; Cross-sectional studies; Disfunción cognitiva; Estudios transversales; Older adults; Oral health; Personas mayores; Pérdida de dientes; Salud oral; Tooth loss.