Dental Health Status of Community-Dwelling Older Adults and Its Relation to Their Nutritional Status in Northwest of Iran

Background: Tooth status is one of the effective factors in incidence and prevalence of malnutrition in older adults. The present study aims to determine dental health status and its relationship with nutritional status of older adults. Methods: The current study was a cross-sectional survey and its population was community-dwelling older adults in Tabriz, Iran. The representative sample included 1041 older adults (506 males and 535 females) selected by probability proportional to size sampling method. The condition of the teeth was determined by a questionnaire and the malnutrition status using mini nutritional assessment-short form and anthropometric indices. Results: Of studied older adults, 4.3% were toothless, 68.4% toothless with complete prosthesis, 1.7% natural teeth but mostly decayed, 6.1% natural teeth and mostly healthy and 9.5% had a combination of natural teeth and prosthesis. The sum of malnutrition and at risk of malnutrition in the toothless older adults were 51.1%, toothless with complete prosthesis 28.9%, natural teeth but mostly decayed 27.30%, natural teeth mostly healthy 23.8% and in the older adults with combination of natural teeth and prosthesis were 22.2%. Conclusion: Older adults with combination of natural teeth and prosthesis had the lowest levels of malnutrition and at risk of malnutrition. The toothless had the highest levels of malnutrition, as more than half of them were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. There was a significant relationship between dental status and nutritional status. However, there was no significant relationship between dental status and anthropometric indices (BMI, WC and WHpR).