Association of the number of natural teeth with dietary diversity and nutritional status in older adults: A cross‐sectional study in China

Abstract Aim To investigate the association of the number of natural teeth with overall dietary diversity and nutritional status in a nationally representative study among older adults in China. Materials and Methods A cross‐sectional analysis was conducted among community‐dwelling adults aged 65 years or older from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study. According to the self‐reported number of natural teeth, participants were categorized into ≥20, 10–19, 1–9 natural teeth, and edentulous. Dietary diversity score (DDS) was constructed based on intake frequencies of 10 food groups assessed by a simplified food frequency questionnaire. The geriatric nutritional risk index was used to measure the malnutrition status (i.e., normal, mild malnutrition, and moderate‐to‐severe malnutrition) among a subgroup of participants. Linear and multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the corresponding associations. Results Among 54,796 study participants, the mean (SD) age was 87.86 (11.45) years, 82.7% had poor dentition (<20 natural teeth), and 27.3% wore dentures. After multivariable adjustment, participants with poor dentition had lower DDSs ( β edentulous = −0.39, 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.48, −0.30; β 1‐9 teeth = −0.46, 95% CI, −0.55, −0.37; β 10‐19 teeth = −0.36, 95% CI, −0.46, −0.26) than those with 20 natural teeth or more. For individual food items, edentulous, 1–9 and 10–19 natural teeth were associated with lower odds of regular intake of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, meat, fish and aquatic products, eggs, legumes, preserved vegetables, tea, and garlic, but higher odds of regular intake of sugar and sweets. Among participants with poor dentition, individuals without dentures had lower intake frequencies of most food groups than those wearing dentures. In addition, poor dentition was related to lower odds of normal nutritional status (odds ratio = 0.49, 95% CI, 0.27, 0.89). Conclusions Older adults with poor dentition had significantly lower dietary diversity and worse nutritional status. Future studies are warranted to identify effective interventions to improve the dietary quality and nutrition status among partially and fully edentulous individuals, including those with Stage IV periodontitis.