Relationship between oral health status and masticatory performance with nutritional status in the elderly

The greatest component in the decay-missing-filled teeth index is tooth loss, which occurs mostly in the elderly. Tooth loss can affect the ability to chew food, resulting in a lack of nutritional intake. A cross-sectional study was performed at four community health centers in Central, South, and East Jakarta of 93 elderly (age ≥60) subjects who underwent intraoral examination, anthropometric measurement (body mass index [BMI]) and interview using the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Of the subjects, 53.8% had ≥20 natural teeth and 55.9% were at risk for malnutrition. Correlation testing showed that the total number of natural, decayed, missing, and filled teeth and masticatory performance (p > 0.05) were not significantly correlated with nutritional status (BMI and MNA). There is no relationship between oral health status, masticatory performance, and nutritional status in the elderly.