Missing teeth and all-cause mortality in US adults

This study explored the associations between tooth loss and all-cause mortality among 8710 community-dwelling US adults aged ≥30 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) III in 1988-1994 and subsequently were linked to the 2006 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) public-use mortality records. At baseline, 22.3% had all 28 non-third molar teeth, 36.4% were missing 1-5 teeth, 28.0% 6-27 teeth, and 13.3 % all 28 teeth. During 12-18 (mean = 14.2) years, 2,385 participants died with 22.4% of the deceased being edentulous versus 12.7% having 28 teeth. Age-adjusted mortality rate was 29.3 (±0.6)/1000 person-years among the former versus 9.9 (±1.3) among the latter. Age-adjusted mortality was associated with edentulism, with edentate being 2.6 times (HR = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.81-3.69) more likely to have died than fully dentate, though attenuated upon further adjustment to 45% greater risk (HR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.02-2.05). In contrast, this association between mortality and missing some, but not all teeth, was non-significant upon adjustment for all covariates. In conclusion, edentulism-but not missing <28 teeth-among US adults aged >30 years was statistically significantly associated with all-cause mortality over an average of 14.2 years later.