Relationship between masticatory function and mild cognitive impairment in elderly people wearing removable dentures

Background: The purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between mild cognitive impairment and oral function by investigating an epidemiologic survey of independent elderly people who wear removable dentures. Materials and methods: 250 people who were at least 65 years and wore removable dentures were ultimately analyzed. Subject’s oral function was investigated using dental prescale, a 25-food intake questionnaire and gummy jelly as a test food. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used to evaluate recognizing function. Results: Subjects were separated into two groups: the normal group or the mild cognitive impairment group. The remaining teeth per individual was 11.0±8.6 in the normal group and 8.2±7.9 in the mild cognitive impairment group, indicating that those in the mild cognitive impairment group had significantly fewer teeth than those in the normal group. The mean value of maximum bite pressure and masticatory function with gummy jelly in the normal group was higher than those in the mild cognitive impairment group, whereas there was no significant difference in Masticatory Score. Conclusion: In this study, it is clear that masticatory function in elderly people wearing removable dentures with mild cognitive impairment is reduced. To take in enough nutritients and activate cerebral function for prevention of cognitive dementia, oral care and maintenance of prosthetic appliances are important. Correspondence to: Yoshifumi Toyoshita, Department of Removable Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 1757 Kanazawa, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Hokkaido 061-0293, Japan, Tel/Fax: +81-133-23-2863; E-mail: [email protected]