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Updated: May 2, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Smoking and drinking as risk indicators for tooth loss in middle-aged Danes
Douglas E Morse1, Kirsten Avlund, Lisa Bøge Christensen
1University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Objectives:
To investigate tobacco and alcohol consumption as risk indicators for missing teeth in late middle-aged Danes.
Method:
In all, 1,517 Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB) participants received a clinical oral examination that included number of teeth. Information on smoking, drinking, and various covariates was obtained using self-administered, structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression (dependent variable: 6+ vs. <6 missing teeth) were used to investigate smoking and drinking in relation to missing teeth.
Results:
Current smokers, persons who currently or previously smoked >15 tobacco units/day, and persons who had smoked for 27+ years had elevated mean scores of missing teeth and associated odds ratios (OR) compared with never smokers. Relative to nondrinkers, alcohol consumption was associated with reduced odds of missing 6+ teeth.
Discussion:
Our findings suggest that smoking is positively associated, while alcoholic beverage consumption is inversely related to tooth loss in middle-aged Danes.
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