Baseline denture use and self-reported worsening of dyslipidemia among Chinese adults with edentulism: a cohort study

Whether denture use among completely edentulous adults is associated with subsequent worsening of dyslipidemia remains unclear. We examined the association between baseline denture use and self-reported worsening of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults with complete edentulism and pre-existing dyslipidemia. Data were from the 2018 and 2020 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Baseline denture use and complete edentulism were self-reported. The outcome was self-reported worsening of dyslipidemia at follow-up. A complete-case analysis was performed using sequential logistic regression models. Hypertension and diabetes/hyperglycemia were examined in sensitivity analyses. Among 19,816 baseline participants, 2,690 were included in the final cohort, comprising 43 edentulous non-users, 93 denture users, and 2,554 dentate participants. Self-reported worsening occurred in 18.3% of denture users and 44.2% of edentulous non-users. In the fully adjusted model, denture use was associated with lower odds of self-reported worsening compared with no denture use (OR 0.266, 95% CI 0.117–0.594; P = 0.001). Results remained directionally consistent after additional adjustment for hypertension (OR 0.248, 95% CI 0.091–0.661) and diabetes/hyperglycemia (OR 0.306, 95% CI 0.071–1.237). No significant interactions were observed by sex or age. Baseline denture use was associated with lower odds of self-reported worsening of dyslipidemia among Chinese adults with complete edentulism. Because both exposure and outcome were self-reported and the study was observational, the findings do not establish a causal or treatment effect.