The impact of poor dental status and removable dental prosthesis quality on body composition, masticatory performance and oral health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study in older adults

BACKGROUND: To determine the impact of dental status, types, and quality of dental prostheses on body composition, masticatory performance and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Potential associations between body composition, masticatory performance and OHRQoL were also investigated. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 110 older adults who received prosthodontic treatment at the Dental Faculty Clinics at Chulalongkorn University. Participants were categorized according to their dental prostheses: complete denture (CD), removable partial denture (RPD) and fixed partial denture (FPD). Retention and stability of the RPD and CD were evaluated using the CU-modified Kapur and the modified NHANES III criteria to classify denture quality into acceptable and unacceptable. Dental status including posterior occluding pairs and number of remaining natural teeth were assessed intraorally. Dependent variables were body composition, masticatory performance and OHRQoL. Body composition, including muscle mass (kg), bone mass (kg), basal metabolic rate (kcal) and visceral fat (%) were determined through a bioelectrical impedance analysis. Masticatory performance was assessed using a multiple sieve method of peanut mastication. OHRQoL was assessed using the validated Thai version of Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Thai-OIDP) index. After adjusting for covariates, including age and sex, the associations between oral and dental prosthesis status and body composition, masticatory performance as well as OIDP score were analyzed using multivariable linear and negative binomial regression analyses. Spearman’s correlation was used to determine the potential associations between body composition, masticatory performance and OHRQoL. RESULTS: The presence of fewer natural teeth or wearing an unacceptable removable denture were factors associated with lower bone mass, muscle mass and basal metabolic rate, and with a higher visceral fat. Similar dental and removable denture status were also associated with larger peanut particle size and higher OIDP score. Masticatory performance and OHRQoL variables were moderately correlated (Spearman's rho = 0.44). However, body composition was not correlated with masticatory performance or OHRQoL. CONCLUSIONS: In individuals wearing dental prostheses, factors such as severity of tooth loss, types, and quality of dental prostheses, particularly retention and stability, negatively impacted not only masticatory function and OHRQoL, but also their overall body composition and health. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12903-022-02103-7.