Main

Nowjack-Raymer RE, Sheiham A J Dent Res 2003; 82: 123–126

Little is known about how dental status affects intake of nutritious food. This study used data from the large US NHANES III epidemiological survey. In subjects aged 25 yrs and above, 1373 wore complete dentures (CD group) and 2421 were fully dentate. The CD group was older (65 v. 38 yrs), and more were female, non-Hispanic smokers or used food supplement preparations.

Mean intakes of carrots, tossed salad and dietary fibre, adjusted for demographic variables, smoking, caloric intake and supplement use, were significantly lower for the CD group. In similarly adjusted biochemical serum analyses for slightly smaller groups, the CD group also had significantly lower beta carotene, folate and vitamin C.

The authors comment that studies in edentulous subjects provided with implant-supported prostheses have not shown dietary improvement, and suggest that other approaches therefore may be needed to achieve this.