Tooth Loss, Denture Use, and Risk of Malnutrition in Older Adults in Poland: Evidence from the National PolSenior2...

Background: Malnutrition and its risk are prevalent in older adults and contribute to frailty, morbidity, and mortality. Poor oral health-particularly tooth loss and inadequate prosthetic rehabilitation-may impair chewing, limit dietary variety, and accelerate nutritional decline. We investigated associations between dentition status, denture use, and nutritional status in a nationally representative sample of Polish older adults. Methods: We analyzed data from 5214 participants aged ≥60 years from the nationwide cross-sectional PolSenior2 study. Dentition status was classified as functional dentition (≥20 teeth), partial dentition (1-19 teeth), or edentulism (0 teeth). Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF); impaired nutritional status was defined as MNA-SF <12 (malnourished or at risk). Additional indicators included hypoalbuminemia (<35 g/L) and small calf circumference (<31 cm). Associations were tested using chi-square and multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, education, and place of residence. Results: Functional dentition was present in 15.5%, partial dentition in 48.1%, and edentulism in 36.4% of participants. The proportion of edentulous individuals increased across worsening MNA-SF categories (26.2% in well-nourished, 41.8% in at risk, 46.9% in malnourished). In adjusted models, edentulism was associated with higher odds of impaired nutritional status compared with functional dentition (OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.32-2.10; p < 0.001), while partial dentition showed a non-significant trend (OR: 1.22; 95% CI: 0.98-1.52; p = 0.077). Among edentulous participants, denture use was more common in well-nourished individuals than in those with impaired nutritional status (93.0% vs. 77.2%), suggesting a possible association between active prosthetic rehabilitation and better nutritional status. Conclusions: In Polish older adults, tooth loss-particularly edentulism-is associated with poorer nutritional status. Screening for malnutrition risk may benefit from incorporating basic oral health and denture-use assessment while improved access to prosthetic rehabilitation may support nutritional resilience in ageing populations.