Predicting tooth loss in older age: interplay between personality and socioeconomic status

A low number of natural teeth, indicating poor oral health, is associated with various adverse outcomes to the extent that it has been proposed as a screening marker of life quality in older age. To further understand the mechanisms underlying oral health, this study investigated the associations between the number of natural teeth and personality traits in older age.

In 793 members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, the number of remaining natural teeth was determined at clinical assessment at approximately seventy-three years of age. Personality traits were measured using the 50-item International Personality Item Pool. Associations between personality traits and the number of teeth were estimated with zero-inflated negative binomial models, controlling for sex, age, educational level, occupational social class, and childhood cognitive ability.

Low conscientiousness was associated with both absence and low count of natural teeth at age 73. The latter association was moderated by socioeconomic circumstances, appearing among people with lower educational levels and occupational social class but not among people in better socioeconomic circumstances. The associations were to a small extent mediated by smoking.

People in socially less advantageous circumstances may need to make a stronger personal effort to maintain oral health compared to those in more affluent conditions and therefore lower conscientiousness might be a relative disadvantage for them. These findings can be used for identifying people at risk of poor oral health and for designing personality-targeted interventions. They can also help to explain the links between conscientiousness and various other health outcomes.