Relationship of Nutritional Status with Oral Health Status in Visual Impairment

To analyze the relationship of nutritional status with oral health status among visual impairment. The subjects were 146 elderly people (70 males and 76 females) aged 20-72 years (mean 48.8±6.2 years), Phitsanulok, Thailand. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) questionnaires were administered. Oral examinations investigated the number of present teeth, DMFT and Functional Tooth Units (FTUs). According to the MNA score, 44.5% of subjects were categorized as normal nutrition, 47.3% as questionable, and 8.2 % as malnutrition. The mean numbers of present teeth and FTUs were 17.8±6.9 and 6.9±3.2, respectively. Subjects with malnutrition had lower numbers of present teeth (10.7±1.4) and FTUs (4.3±1.7) than those with normal nutrition (20.2±0.7 and 12.3±0.5) (p≤0.05). Nutritional status of visual impaired Thai was associated with mean numbers of present teeth and FTUs. Keeping many natural teeth or having appropriate numbers of FTUs by replacing missing teeth with dentures would prevention malnutrition