The Effect of Depression on Tooth Brushing Frequency in the Elderly in Korea

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the relationship between mental health problems and oral health in older adults. Methods:The participants of this study were older adults aged 65 years or older.The study used the data of 16,489 people who responded to the 7th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of depression on the frequency of tooth brushing when confounding factors such as income quintile and smoking were considered.Statistical software, SAS 9.4 ver.(SAS Institute, Cary, NC) was used.Results: Depressed older adult participants were 1.3 times more likely to brush their teeth less than three times a day than non-depressed participants, which was statistically significant.In women with depression, the odds of brushing their teeth less than three times a day were 1.5 times higher than those without depression, which was statistically significant.Conclusions: Depression in older adults is correlated with the number of tooth brushes per day.Moreover, depression in women affects their number of tooth brushes.