AIMS

The objective of this research is to investigate the association between the number of teeth and frailty in the geriatric population.

DESIGN

This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, from May 2021 to September 2021.

METHODS

A cohort of 538 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or above was included in the analysis. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator, Mini-Mental State Examination and Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form were employed to assess frailty, cognitive function and nutritional status, respectively. The statistics software SPSS v21.0 and its process plug-in were employed for statistical analysis, and the significance of intermediary effects was tested using the bootstrap sampling test method and the process plug-in.

RESULTS

The number of teeth influenced frailty through three mediating pathways: (a) nutritional status (effect = -0.038); (b) cognitive function (effect = -0.021); (c) nutritional status and cognitive function combined (effect = -0.038). The total mediating effect accounted for 50.26% of the overall effect.

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the need to raise awareness of oral health care among older adults and implement comprehensive interventions to promote active aging and improve their overall well-being.