Title

Shortened dental arch and body mass index in adults 45-65 years of age: results from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2008

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2015

Abstract

Objective—Many people have dental arches with unrestored edentulous areas posterior to natural teeth. One dental pattern is the shortened dental arch (SDA) Due to the lack of teeth, individuals with a SDA may eat a restricted diet including soft, highly processed foods. Such diets may increase the risk of overweight or obesity. We examined the SDA and body mass index (BMI) to determine if there was an association in adults aged 45–65 years. Methods—The data for this study were U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2008 merged files. There were 5,773 eligible participants. The data were examined for frequencies, and with Chi square and logistic regression. Results—There were 69.3% of participants with a shortened mandibular arch who had a BMI ≥ 25 as compared with 71.8% of participants who had a complete mandibular dental arch who had a BMI ≥ 25; (p = .7246). There were 70.6% of participants with a shortened maxillary arch who had a BMI ≥ 25 as compared with 71.9% of participants who had a complete maxillary dental arch who had a BMI ≥ 25 (p= .8859). The adjusted odds ratio for shortened mandibular dental arch was 0.70 (95% CI: 0.46, 1.08) on BMI ≥ 25. The adjusted odds ratio for shortened maxillary dental arch was 1.06 (0.63, 1.78). Conclusions—The research hypothesis that SDA was related to higher BMI, and the corollary that restored or complete dentition had better odds of a lower BMI were not supported.

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