Poor dental health may predict reduced ability to leave one’s house

Researchers in Japan have investigated the association between poor dental health and being housebound in the elderly, and found that having fewer teeth and no dentures were associated with future risk of being home bound, especially in people aged 65–74. The findings may have important implications for interventions that promote dental health and denture use to prevent older people from becoming confined to their homes.
The longitudinal cohort study used data of 2,035 men and 2,355 women aged 65 and over who responded to two postal surveys conducted in 2006 and 2010 and were not homebound, defined as leaving their home less than once weekly, at baseline. After the four-year study period, 324 (7.4 per cent) of the respondents were housebound.


With regard to dental status, the researchers found that, overall, participants with fewer teeth were twice as likely to be confined to the house than those with more teeth were. Almost 10 per cent of the homebound respondents had fewer than 20 teeth and no dentures, about 9 per cent had fewer than 20 teeth and dentures, and about 4 per cent had 20 or more teeth.
However, such a significant association between being homebound and dental health was not observed in participants aged 75 and over.
According to the researchers, several possible pathways may link dental health and being bound to one’s home. For example, dental health, including loss of teeth, affects food choice and nutritional intake, conversation, and facial attractiveness. Therefore, poor dental health could negatively influence social activities, leading individuals to isolate themselves from others. Being housebound in itself is a barrier to access to dental care.
The researchers concluded that future intervention studies focused on improving dental health in order to prevent older persons in the Japanese population being homebound are required to verify the findings. They suggested that improving the rate of denture use among older people with fewer teeth could reduce their risk of becoming housebound in the future.
The study, titled “Does poor dental health predict becoming home bound among older Japanese?”, was published online in 30 April in the BMC Oral Health journal.