On the relations between dietary habits, nutrients, and oral health in women at the age of retirement

Abstract

Intake of energy, nutrients, food items, and various oral health-related factors were studied in 116 women about 5 months before the age of their occupational retirement. The results were analyzed with oral health aspects as both independent and dependent variables. Edentulous women had higher intake of fat and higher coffee consumption than dentate ones, and dentate subjects with 1–20 teeth had higher body mass index than those with ≥21 remaining teeth. Individuals with high intake of energy and carbohydrates had more decayed tooth surfaces than those with low, but different intakes of other nutrients were not reflected in the studied tooth variables. Daily consumers of sweet beverages and sugar in coffee/tea had more decayed tooth surfaces than non-consumers. Nineteen of the 116 women with ‘inadequate’ diet did not differ from the others with regard to any of the studied tooth variables. Women with self-assessed chronic oral dryness had higher intake of energy, protein, iron, thiamine, and vitamin D than those without this problem. Smoking habits were reflected in the DMFS index but not in any of the other studied oral health-related variables. It was concluded that intake of energy- and sugar-rich products, frequencies of intakes, and oral dryness seem to be of greater importance for oral health than intake of specific nutrients, at least in this specific cohort.