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Updated: May 3, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Tooth loss and cognitive functions among older adults
Helena Nilsson1, Johan Berglund, Stefan Renvert
1Maxillofacial Unit, Halland Hospital , Halmstad , Sweden.
Objective:
To evaluate the association between the number of teeth and cognitive functions adjusted for age and education level in a cohort of older adults living in Sweden.
Materials And Methods:
The study employed a cross-sectional design in which 1147 individuals between 60-96 years underwent a clinical oral examination. The cognitive functions were assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clock-test. The level of education was obtained from a questionnaire. Data were subjected to Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed, grouping the different variables into pre-determined categories.
Results:
The co-variables age and education were significantly associated with the number of teeth (p < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the association between the number of teeth and the cognitive functions persisted even after adjusting for age and level of education.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that the presence of teeth may be of importance for cognitive abilities in older adults.
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