Handgrip strength and the number of teeth among Korean population.

BACKGROUND: Handgrip strength is easily assessed by muscle strength and is an important factor for health and physical performance. Empirical evidence for the association between the number of teeth and handgrip strength remains controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between the number of teeth and handgrip strength.

METHODS: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2014 to 2015 were used (N = 7,741). The number of teeth was categorized into three groups: 0 to 9 teeth, 10 to 19 teeth, and 20 to 28 teeth. Handgrip strength of the participants was measured using a digital hand dynamometer. Multivariate linear regression and logistic regression models were fitted to assess the association between the number of teeth and hand grip strength after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, general health behaviors, and oral and general health factors.

RESULTS: Reduced handgrip strength was much more frequent in male and female participants with a lower number of teeth. Each tooth increased handgrip strength by 0.12 kg and 0.07 kg in males and females, respectively (P < 0.001 for both males and females). The association between the number of teeth and handgrip strength disappeared in females in the fully adjusted models, but the odds ratio of participants with 0 to 9 teeth was 1.73 (95% confidence interval: 1.02 to 2.95), which was higher than the reference group in males.

CONCLUSION: Our results showed a significant association between the number of teeth and handgrip strength in Korean adults.