Can poor oral health cause falls in the elderly?
Source: www.medicalnewsbulletin.com Author: Viola Lanier PhD, MSc There is some research that indicates that, however unlikely it seems, poor oral health may contribute to the risk of falls. This question recently led researchers in Japan to investigate if poor oral health could in fact be associated with incident falls in the elderly. As the baby boomer population ages, incidental falls have increasingly become a major public health concern around the world. In England, 28-35% of those over 65 years of age experienced a fall in 2016, while in Japan falls and fractures accounted for 12.2% of senior citizens requiring long-term care. Though hip fractures and light bruises are the most common outcomes, the most unfortunate incident can cause death. Therefore, identifying risk factors that can be modified may serve as an intervention for reducing falls in the elderly. Examining oral health conditions and comparing incidental falls was important for researchers from the Graduate School of Dentistry at Kanagawa Dental University in Japan because the association between the two has been controversial in the research community. One study determined an association between a decrease in occlusal function and postural instability, whereas, a different study showed that occlusal disharmony is a risk factor for a decrease in balance function. Interestingly, a recent study that investigated 4,425 older community dwellers who had less than 19 teeth and lacked dentures, had a higher frequency of falls. The JAGES Project Longitudinal Study For this research study, panel data was used from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation [...]