Background factors of edentulousness in Japanese octogenarians

Objectives: Later in life, some people have lost whole their teeth whereas others still keep a functional dentition. Retaining a functional dentition is one of the key factors to maintain a good quality of life in elders; however, there is few report to address potential factors which lead to edentulousness through a comprehensive approach. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the background factors of edentulous elders compared to fully-dentate elders among community-dwelling Japanese octogenarians.
Methods: One hundred forty-four edentulous elders and seventy-three fully dentate elders were selected among community-dwelling Japanese aged 79 to 81 years old. As for possible background factors, gender, socioeconomic status, health behavior, medical history, and oral function were examined. Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to compare these factors between edentulous and fully-dentate elders. P-value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Results: The bivariate analysis indicated that years of education (p=0.041), diabetes (p=0.018), and stimulated salivary flow rate (p=0.023) were significantly different between edentulous and fully-dentate groups. After controlling for other variables, diabetes (odds ratio (OR)­=4.80), smoking history (OR=3.82) and lower stimulated salivary flow rate (OR=0.73) were found to be significant factors for edentulousness.
Conclusions: These results suggested that diabetes, smoking and lower stimulated salivary flow rate would be the potential risk factors for edentulousness. For further investigation of the causal association, a longitudinal, prospective cohort study from young adulthood is needed in the future.