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Annals of General Psychiatry
Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Primary research

Cognitive function and number of teeth in a community-dwelling population in Japan

Authors: Yuki Saito, Norio Sugawara, Norio Yasui-Furukori, Ippei Takahashi, Shigeyuki Nakaji, Hiroto Kimura

Published in: Annals of General Psychiatry | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Background

It has been reported that oral health is poor in elderly populations and is associated with poor cognition and dementia. The objective of this study was to examine the association between tooth loss and cognitive function in a community-dwelling population in Japan.

Methods

We examined the association between tooth loss and cognitive function in 462 Japanese community-dwelling individuals. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was employed to measure global cognitive status. A multiple logistic regression analysis, with both crude and adjusted conditions for confounding factors, was used to assess the relationship between poor cognition and the number of remaining teeth.

Results

The overall prevalence of poor cognition (MMSE ≤ 23) in this study population was 5.6%. Subjects with poor cognition were significantly older, less educated, scored lower in intellectual activity, and had fewer remaining teeth than those with normal cognition. According to the multiple logistic regression analysis, a lower number of teeth (0–10) was found to be a significant independent risk factor (OR = 20.21, 95% confidence interval = 2.20 to 185.47) of cognitive impairment.

Conclusions

This cross-sectional study on a Japanese community-dwelling population revealed relationships between tooth loss and cognitive function. However, the interpretation of our results was hampered by a lack of data, including socioeconomic status and longitudinal observations. Future research exploring tooth loss and cognitive function is warranted.
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Metadata
Title
Cognitive function and number of teeth in a community-dwelling population in Japan
Authors
Yuki Saito
Norio Sugawara
Norio Yasui-Furukori
Ippei Takahashi
Shigeyuki Nakaji
Hiroto Kimura
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Annals of General Psychiatry / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1744-859X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-859X-12-20

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