Teeth, Food, Eating and Health:What Matters for the Older Person?

When considering the oral health of older people we often see a service challenge, perhaps driven by a quality of life agenda. But good oral health can have real benefits to health. In particular, natural tooth retention may have a significant role in diet and nutrition with dentate people having higher intakes of fruits and vegetables and a measurably healthier intake of specific nutrients. Using data from the British National Diet and Nutrition Survey series this presentation will look at the nature of the relationship between natural teeth and good nutrition and discuss the problems with understanding the relationship and its measurement. Intakes of dietary fibre and Vitamin C, two key dietary components, are significantly associated with the number of teeth, whilst fruit and vegetable intakes show a complex association where both generation and dentition appear to play an important role in intakes. The mechanisms that may be operating are complicated and extend beyond simple concepts of direct oral disability resulting from tooth loss, possibly interacting with cultural attitudes to food and nutrition. Finally, the way that these findings could inform both policy and practice will be explored.