A new study published Oct. 10 in BMC Geriatrics has found that the faster older adults lose their teeth, the greater their risk of dying — regardless of how many teeth they had at the start.
Previous research has typically looked at tooth count at a single point in time. This study, led by researchers in China, examined whether the progression of tooth loss itself was associated with mortality, using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.
“Among older adults, the risk of all-cause mortality significantly increased with a more rapid progression of tooth loss, regardless of baseline tooth count,” the researchers wrote. “These findings emphasize the critical importance of monitoring tooth loss progression.”
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The study followed 8,073 participants with a median age of 83 (interquartile range: 73–91), of whom 46.6 per cent were men, over a median of 3.5 years. During that time, 5,176 participants — or 64.1 per cent — died.
After adjusting for baseline tooth count and other confounding variables, the researchers found that mortality risk rose with faster rates of tooth loss. Compared with participants whose tooth count remained stable, the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality were:
- 1.11 (95% CI: 1.03–1.20) for the slow loss group,
- 1.20 (95% CI: 1.09–1.32) for the moderate loss group, and
- 1.33 (95% CI: 1.19–1.48) for the rapid loss group.
A positive linear relationship was also observed between annual tooth loss and mortality, with each additional tooth lost per year associated with a 4 per cent higher risk of death (adjusted HR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.03–1.05).
The findings underscore the potential of oral health monitoring as an indicator of overall health in older adults, suggesting that tooth loss may reflect broader physiological decline.