The impact of dentition status and barriers to dental care services on perceived oral health of medicare beneficiaries

Objective

To examine the association among barriers to dental care services, dentition groups, and self-reported oral health status for Medicare beneficiaries.

Methods

We used data from the 2017 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which included participants aged ≥65 years who were enrolled in Medicare and had completed the oral health exam. We created a dentition group variable using the detailed dental examination data to account for the presence of natural, replaced, removable, or missing teeth. Through bivariate and logistic analyses, we explored the relationship between barriers to receiving dental care services, dentition groups, and reported oral and general health statuses, along with other control variables.

Results

For the total Medicare population as well as in the four subgroup analyses, we showed that those with barriers to dental care services were more likely to report fair or poor oral health status. Those who were edentulous, had complete dentures, or had less than a full mouth of teeth had greater barriers and worse oral and general health than did those with all-natural teeth. Among those who reported fair or poor general health, those with less than a full mouth of teeth showed similar levels of barriers to dental care services and worse perceived oral health than did those without any teeth.

Conclusions

Helping the 65 years and older population retain their teeth in good condition will improve their overall health. Investment in oral hygiene and health for the current and future Medicare populations could improve their overall health.