Association between chronic kidney disease and tooth loss among Korean adults: results from the Korea National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2013–2018

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and oral health are important public health problems worldwide, resulting in various complications. This study aimed to confirm the association between CKD and the number of teeth using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), which is representative of Korean adults. This study used raw data from the 6th and 7th (2013-2018) KNHANES and targeted 16,125 adults aged 40 years or older in Korea. Chronic kidney disease was defined as 2021 Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between CKD and the number of teeth. The prevalence of CKD was significantly higher in the group with fewer than 20 teeth. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, CKD was associated with having fewer than 20 teeth after adjusting for age, sex, household income, education, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, angina, myocardial infarction, stroke, dyslipidemia, and performance of an oral examination within 1 year, daily toothbrushing frequency, and hygiene product use (Odds ratio = 1.34; 95% Confidence Interval = 1.03-1.74). Therefore, CKD may contribute to an increased risk of tooth loss. Implementing an integrated healthcare approach for oral health management in individuals with CKD could help reduce their burden of oral diseases.