Research by a UNAB academic revealed the relationship between oral health and cognitive impairment in older adults in Chile

Felipe Salazar Maulen, UNAB Journalist.- Oral health has been gaining more and more relevance when it comes to talking about comprehensive health, as has also been shown by recent research in our country, which has found a significant association between oral health and the suspicion of cognitive impairment in the elderly population.

The work was carried out by the Consortium ELHOC (Epidemiology of Lifestyle and Health Outcomes in Chile), in collaboration with other health experts. The researchers used data from the National Survey of Chile 2016-2017 to examine the association between oral health and cognitive decline in 1,826 Chilean older adults.

The results of the study revealed that older people with suspected cognitive impairment had fewer teeth and a greater presence of oral pain compared to those without suspicion. These findings support previous research that has linked poor oral health with frailty syndrome and cognitive decline.

“The relevance of this research is that in a population like ours where most people have problems accessing dentists or oral treatments, especially older adults, recognizing factors that are associated with this is essential,” explained the researcher from the UNAB Faculty of Nursing and co-author of the study, Felipe Diaz-Toro.

These new findings show that the high prevalence of dental problems, such as cavities, tooth loss, and periodontal disease, highlight the need to address these risk factors and promote good oral health as a preventative measure against cognitive decline.

Data from the 2016-2017 National Health Survey (ENS) indicate that 81.7% of people over the age of 65 have fewer than 20 teeth, and the use of dental prostheses in this group reaches 65.8%. , significantly higher than the total for the country (22.4%).

Faced with this scenario, Díaz-Toro emphasizes that “investigating factors and/or diseases that are associated with this, in my role as an epidemiologist, I believe it is essential to seek alternatives that can help anticipate future problems that may arise.”

The study was published by the Spanish magazine Sanitary Gazette and, in addition to Felipe Díaz, the academics Gabriela Nazar, Fanny Petermann-Rocha, Pablo Roa, Claudia Troncoso, Ana María Leiva, Igor Cigarroa and Carlos Celis-Morales participated.

Read the full investigation at following link.