The aim of this scoping review was to determine health-related impacts of poor oral health among community-dwelling seniors. Using MeSH terms and keywords such as elderly, general health, geriatrics, 3 electronic databases—Medline, CINAHL, and Age Line were searched. Title and abstracts were independently screened by 3 reviewers, followed by full-texts review. A total of 131 articles met our inclusion criteria, the majority of these studies were prospective cohort (77%, n = 103), and conducted in Japan (42 %, n = 55). These studies were categorized into 16 general health outcomes, with mortality (24%, n = 34), and mental health disorders (21%, n = 30) being the most common outcomes linked with poor oral health. 90% (n = 120) of the included studies reported that poor oral health in seniors can subsequently lead to a higher risk of poor general health outcomes among this population. Improving access to oral healthcare services for elderly can help not only reduce the burden of oral diseases in this population group but also address the morbidity and mortality associated with other general health diseases and conditions caused due to poor oral health. Findings from this study can help identify shortcomings in existing oral healthcare programs for elderly and develop future programs and services to improve access and utilization of oral care services by elderly.

Objectives: There has been an increasing interest in addressing the equity issue of accessing dental care for low‐income elderly. This study aimed to estimate the marginal effects (ME) of dental insurance coverage for seniors on dental care utilization and oral health status outcomes. We also estimated the ME of dental insurance across income subgroups.Methods: Data was sourced from the 2017/18 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)‐Annual component. The ME analysis included individuals aged ≥65 years residing in Ontario (n = 10,030). ME were derived from multivariate probit regression models for dental care utilization and oral health status outcomes.Results: Dental insurance increased the likelihood of reporting excellent/very good oral health and never avoiding foods due to oral problems by 6.9% (ME:6.9, 95% CI: 5.4–8.3) and 3.5% (ME: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.9–5.1), respectively. Dental insurance increased the likelihood of dental visits within the past year by 11.3% (ME: 11.3, 95% CI: 9.8–12.8) and decreased the likelihood of dental visits only for emergencies by 11.2% (ME: −11.2, 95% CI: −12.5 to −9.9). Compared to low‐ and high‐income groups, dental insurance had the highest ME for the middle‐income groups for dental visits within the past year (ME middle: 13.1, 95% CI: 10.5–15.7) and dental visits only for emergencies (ME middle: −14.4, 95% CI: −16.0 to −12.8).Conclusion: Dental insurance can improve the utilization of dental care and can help mitigate the negative effects of poor oral health in elderly populations.

This prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the impact of maternal oral inflammation on human milk composition including neutrophil counts, activation state (based on cluster of differentiation (CD) markers expression), and fatty acid levels. Fifty mothers were recruited from St. Michael’s hospital, Toronto, and followed up from 2–4 weeks until 4 months postpartum. Oral rinse and human milk samples were collected at both timepoints. Oral polymorphonuclear neutrophils (oPMNs) within the rinses were quantified using flow cytometry and the participants’ oral health state was categorized into three groups (i.e., healthy, moderate, and severe) based on the oPMNs counts. Fatty acids were identified and quantified using a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Compared to mothers with a healthy oral health state, mothers with moderate to severe oral inflammation had a statistically significant decrease in the expression of CD64 biomarker, an increase in the expression of CD14 biomarker on human milk neutrophils and a decrease in the levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3) in their human milk at follow-up compared to baseline. This study demonstrates for the first time that maternal oral inflammation can affect human milk composition. The mechanism by which these alterations can affect infant health outcomes in the long term critically needs to be considered.