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Abstract

Background

Few have studied the association between chewing ability and longevity.

Design and methods

In this prospective study, we analyzed 697 80-year-old participants residing in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Chewing ability was assessed on the basis of the types of food that each participant reported being able to chew.

Results

During follow-up, 108 participants died. Patients reporting the lowest numbers of chewable foods were associated with higher risks of cardiovascular mortality than those who were able to chew all the types of food surveyed (multivariate hazard ratio: 4.60; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-21.1).

Conclusions

Impaired dentition status with poor masticatory ability was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in active elderly individuals.

Keywords

cardiovascular disease chewing ability dental elderly masticatory mortality

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