Dental-related function and oral health in relation to eating performance in assisted living residents with and without cognitive impairment

Aims: Despite the physiologic relationship, there is a lack of evidence on how dental-related function and oral health impact eating performance. This study aims to examine the association of eating performance with dental-related function and oral health among assisted living residents. Methods and results: This study was a secondary analysis of observational data collected from an instrument development study. Participants included 90 residents with normal to severely impaired cognition from three assisted livings. Multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic models were used. The dependent variable was eating performance measured by the single “eating” item (scored from 0 to 4 on level of dependence). Independent variables were resident age, gender, dental-related function, and oral health. The resident and facility clustering effects accounted for 88% of variance in eating performance, among which 84% was explained by dental-related function and oral health. Eating performance was associated with dental-related function (coefficient = −0.10, 95% CI = −0.19, −0.01, P =.025), and was not associated with other characteristics. Conclusion: Eating performance is influenced by the complex relationship with dental-related function and oral health. Novel interventions using interdisciplinary partnerships are needed to maintain dental-related function and oral health to optimize eating performance.