Association between functional limitation and use of dental services among older Americans

The objective of the study is to assess the relationship between functional limitation and use of dental services among older American adults; and whether this relationship is independent from socioeconomic factors. We used data pertaining to older American adults aged 60 years and over from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Functional limitation was indicated by difficulties in hearing, seeing, concentrating or remembering, walking or climbing stairs, dressing or bathing, and doing errands alone. Use of dental service was indicated by one or more dental visit within the past year. Logistic regression was conducted to assess the association between any limitation and use of dental service adjusting for income, education, health insurance, smoking, tooth extraction, age, sex and ethnicity. The analysis included 142,095 participants. Dental visit within past year, and functional limitations were reported by 67.4% and 39.7% of the participants, respectively. Functional limitation was negatively associated with dental visit in the previous year with Odds Ratios 0.69 (95% Confidence Intervals: 0.65, 0.74) in the fully adjusted model. Functional limitation could be a potential and additional barrier to use of dental services among older Americans. Public health strategies should consider alternative care models for those with functional limitations.