Association between dentition status and frailty: Findings from NHANES 2011-2018

To examine the association between dentition status and frailty across different age groups, and explore the mitigating role of dietary intake.

This cross-sectional study involved data on participants aged ≥60 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) in the United States (2011-2018). Dentition status was assessed by:1) dento-occlusal support pattern (according to Miyachi's Triangular Classification), which combines the number of remaining natural teeth and occlusal supports, and 2) number of functional teeth. Frailty and dietary intake were assessed using the Frailty Index (FI) and the 2015 Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015). Covariates included age, sex, education, ethnicity, smoking status, income, marital status, and physical activity. Beta regression analysis was used to examine these associations.

Among the 6,859 older participants, the mean age was 69.9 years (SD 6.9), diet according to HEI-2015 was 58.1 (SD 13.5) and FI was 0.24 (SD 0.15). Regarding the triangular classification, compared to those in Zone A (mild level), the estimate for FI was significantly higher in Zone B (1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.09-1.23), Zone C (1.30; 95% CI,1.22-1.38), and Zone D (severe level) (1.27; 95% CI,1.16-1.39). For each additional functional tooth, the estimate for FI score was 0.985 (95% CI, 0.981-0.989). Adjusting for dietary intake mitigated the association between dentition status and frailty, which was attenuated with increasing age.

There is an association between dentition status and frailty among adults in the United States, with dietary intake slightly mitigating this association.