The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the interplay of physiological

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the stated research gap and recommendations of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals. Those papers have been cited 1 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Association between oral frailty and well-being in community-dwelling older adults in Japan (2026) · Journal of Prosthodontic Research · cited 1× · doi

  The epidemiological mechanisms linking poor oral health and oral function to declining well-being among older adults remain unclear. The effect of oral frailty on well-being, and the pathways through which it acts, remain underexplored. There is a need to examine the association between oral frailty and well-being in community-dwelling older adults.

  generalstated research gap
  Keywords: epidemiological mechanisms linking poor oral health function declining
• Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the simplified Oral Frailty Index (OFI-8) among Indonesian older adults (2026) · Frontiers in Oral Health · doi

  adaptation, which emphasize conceptual rather than literal equivalence. This finding suggests that the Indonesian OFI-8 is suitable for self- administration among community-dwelling older adults. loss In this present study, we observed tooth in all respondents, but only 40 reported using dentures. Several studies have shown that individuals with 20 or more teeth are less susceptible to dementia and frailty, underscoring the importance of replacing missing teeth with dentures (26–29). This initial study investigated and confirmed that the OFI-8-ID possesses good validity and reliability for assessing risk of oral frailty in Indonesian older adults. The concurrent validity of the OFI-8-ID was evaluated by examining the correlation between the total OFI-8-ID score and the number of missing teeth, a criterion selected to determine the extent to which the two theoretically related measures were associated. The findings indicated that an increase in tooth loss correlates positively with a higher OFI-8-ID scores, which indicate higher risk of oral frailty. This outcome is consistent with numerous previous studies. A meta-analysis by Zhang et al. reported a significant negative correlation between the number of teeth and frailty. In particular, individuals with fewer than 20 teeth exhibited a higher risk of frailty compared with those with more than 20 teeth (30). Individuals with fewer than 20 remaining teeth also tend to experience masticatory dysfunction. A systematic review by Kojima et al. addressed the association between masticatory dysfunction and that older individuals with masticatory dysfunction had approximately a 1.83-fold increased risk of frailty compared with those with normal masticatory function, emphasizing the importance of masticatory ability. Our findings corroborate this, as tooth count directly function. Thus, a reduced number of teeth can elevate the risk of frailty among older adults, aligning with Kojima’s conclusions (31). influences masticatory frailty. Their review found The use of missing teeth as an external criterion should be interpreted with caution. Tooth loss is clinically relevant to oral frailty because it may affect masticatory function, dietary intake, to influence overall health and contribute denture needs, and functional oral decline. A meta-analysis by Paul et al. stated that there is sufficient evidence to consider tooth loss an important indicator for the development of frailty (32). Retaining at least 20 functional teeth is essential for effective chewing, digestion, and nutritional intake, all of which frailty directly preventio

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: frailty teeth masticatory tooth risk older loss individuals oral adults missing number higher dysfunction function
• Mapping the physiological, psychological and social landscape of the oral frailty network: a cross-sectional network analysis (2026) · Clinical Oral Investigations · doi

  The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the interplay of physiological, psychological, and social factors associated with oral frailty in older adults. Prior research has focused on the determinants of oral frailty, but a comprehensive understanding of the interplay of these factors is lacking.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: paper identifies gap understanding interplay physiological psychological social

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