Dental visit avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with oral frailty in Japanese community-dwelling older adults.

AIM: Dental visits; that is, receiving oral healthcare and treatment by dental professionals, are important for maintaining oral health. Owing to the possibility of contracting COVID-19, individuals have been reluctant to visit medical institutions. How the oral function of older individuals in Japan has been affected by dental visit avoidance is unknown. We examined the association between COVID-19-related dental visit avoidance and oral frailty status among community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study targeted community-dwelling adults aged >/=70 years who participated in the Itabashi Longitudinal Study on Aging. Those with self-perceived dental care needs and without incomplete data were included in the analysis. Oral frailty was assessed using the Oral Frailty 5-item Checklist. Dental visit status during the COVID-19 pandemic was determined via questionnaire. Poisson regression analysis was used, in which dental visit status (3 categories: COVID-19-related dental visit avoidance; dental visit avoidance for other reasons; and no dental visit avoidance [reference]) was set as the independent variable, and oral frailty (present or absent) was set as the dependent variable. RESULTS: Among the 854 participants analyzed (average age 77.8 years, 377 men and 477 women), 50.2% had oral frailty, and 13.1% avoided dental visits because of COVID-19, even when they had something wrong with their mouth. After adjusting for health characteristics and sociodemographic background, COVID-19-related dental visit avoidance was associated with oral frailty (prevalence ratio 1.24, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.48). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a greater oral frailty prevalence among community-dwelling older adults who avoided dental visits because of COVID-19. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2025; 25: 758-763.