Abstract

Aims: We investigated the association of impaired glucose metabolism with tooth loss in adults in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study 1966 (NFBC1966).

Methods: We examined 4394 participants from the 46-year follow-up of the NFBC1966. Self-reported number of teeth as well as insulin and glucose values, taken during a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), served as the primary study variables. A multinomial logistic regression model served to analyse (unadjusted, smoking-adjusted and fully adjusted) the association between number of teeth (0–24, 25–27, 28–32) and glucose metabolism in women and men.

Results: Among women, type 2 diabetes — whether previously known or detected during screening — pointed to a higher likelihood of 0–24 teeth (fully adjusted OR = 2.99, 95%CI = 1.54–5.80) and 25–27 teeth (OR = 1.91, 95%CI = 1.18–3.08) than did normal glucose tolerance. Similarly, impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance together indicated a higher likelihood of 0–24 teeth (OR = 1.71, 95%CI = 1.09–2.69) than did normal glucose tolerance. A similar, statistically non-significant, pattern emerged among men. Number of teeth associated with OGTT insulin and glucose curves as well as with the Matsuda index in both women and men.

Conclusions: Tooth loss strongly associated with impaired glucose metabolism in middle-aged Finnish women