Effect of Receiving Dental Treatment on mortality among nursing facility residents

Aim To assess the association between receipt of different types of dental procedures and mortality among nursing home residents. Methods and Results Between June 2006 and March 2008, 535 nursing home residents received a health screening assessment and were offered comprehensive dental care. Death certificate data were obtained in September 2013 and multivariable regression models were generated to assess the effect of dental procedures delivered after the screening assessment on mortality, adjusting for demographic and health‐related covariates. Residents had a mean age of 85.2 years at baseline and approximately 30% were edentulous. About two‐thirds received at least one dental procedure, and about 88% had died, between the screening date and the end of follow‐up. Among dentate residents, after adjustment for relevant covariates, for each one‐unit increase in the number of intervals during which they received at least one preventive dental procedure there was a 13% decrease in mortality (HR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.78‐0.98) at any given time, while for prosthetic dental procedures there was a 16% decrease in mortality (HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.72‐0.97). Among edentulous residents, only prosthetic procedures were analyzed, and they were not significantly associated with mortality. Conclusion Among dentate institutionalized elderly, receipt of preventive or prosthetic dental procedures was associated with decreased mortality.