Association of obesity, diabetes, and physical frailty with dental and tongue–lip motor dysfunctions in patients with metabolic disease

This study aimed to reveal the clinical features associated with decreased dental (or shearing/crushing) and tongue–lip motor functions in patients with metabolic diseases. One thousand patients with metabolic diseases including diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperuricemia were recruited. Dental function was assessed with a gummy jelly test, wherein glucose elution from a chewed gummy jelly was measured. Tongue–lip motor function was measured as repeatedly pronounced syllables per second. The association of clinical variables with the two functions was analyzed using multivariate linear regression models. The mean measurement of dental function was 202 ± 73 mg/dL, and that of tongue–lip motor function was 5.5 ± 1.0 times/s. Clinical variables independently associated with dental function (mg/dL) were age (adjusted regression coefficient β = −9.8 per standard deviation [SD]), smoking (β = −14.4 and −25.9 for past and current smoking, respectively), body mass index (BMI) 25–30 and ≥30 versus 20–25 kg/m2 (β = −14.7 and −23.1, respectively), diabetes (β = −11.9), hemoglobin A1c level ≥64 mmol/mol (β = −14.6), gait speed (β = 6.2 per SD), and handgrip strength (β = 7.5 and 7.7 per SD for males and females, respectively) (all P < 0.05). Clinical variables independently associated with tongue–lip motor function (times/s) were age (β = −0.31 per SD), BMI ≥ 30 versus 20–25 kg/m2 (β = −0.24), diabetes (β = −0.22), dyslipidemia (β = 0.16), gait speed (β = 0.12 per SD), and handgrip strength (β = 0.18 and 0.13 per SD for males and females, respectively) (all P < 0.05). Obesity, diabetes, physical frailty, and old age were shared risk factors for decreased dental and tongue–lip motor functions in patients with metabolic diseases.