Investigators have examined the rate of cognitive decline among older adults who use dentures.

As a result of the loss of function associated with dementia and the adverse effects the disease can have on families and caregivers, factors that modify cognitive function may be critical to slowing the progression of the disease. Previous studies have demonstrated that denture use may enhance nutrition and diet quality among older adults with tooth loss as well as that tooth loss can influence cognitive impairment. However, there has been little research exploring the relationship between denture use and cognitive decline.

In a study published in Aging Medicine, the investigators used 2008 to 2018 data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey and Mini-Mental State Examination to evaluate the cognitive outcomes of 27,708 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older who were dentate or edentulous. The mean age of the participants was 86 years (standard deviation = 12), 12,025 of them identified as male, 9,747 of them were edentulous, and 8,695 of them reported denture use. The mental examination involved assessment of the participants’ cognitive orientation, registration, attention, language, memory, and visuospatial ability. The participants were then broken down into subgroups for further analysis depending on the degree of tooth loss: one to nine, 10 to 19, and 20 to 31 missing teeth.

Dentate participants who used dentures were found to have greater cognitive function at baseline (beta = 1.032, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.813–1.251, P < .001) and slower cognitive decline per year (beta = 0.127, 95% CI = 0.047–0.206, P < .01) compared with those who didn’t use dentures. Although edentulous participants who used dentures also had greater cognitive function at baseline (beta = 3.063, 95% CI = 2.703–3.423, P < .001) compared with those who didn’t use dentures, denture use was not associated with a slower rate of annual cognitive decline (beta = 0.011, 95% CI = –0.082 to 0.105, P = .818). The results were found to be consistent regardless of the degree of tooth loss.

The findings suggested that denture use may be effective at managing cognitive decline among those with partial tooth loss and highlighted the potential benefit of prosthodontic rehabilitation in this patient population. The investigators proposed that their research may add to growing evidence of the relationship between oral health and brain aging.

Conflict of interest disclosures can be found in the study.