Oral health status as predictor of 1-year mortality after discharge from an acute geriatric unit.

Purpose: Predicting mortality of older patients is a difficult, yet crucial task, which has lead to development of several prognostic tools. We hypothesized that the evaluation of oral health, which is often neglected, might be helpful to improve 1-year mortality prediction in a cohort of patients > 65 years admitted to an acute geriatric unit.

Methods: We assessed 200 patients using the Decayed, Missing or Filled Teeth tool, the Periodontal Screening and Recording tool and the Plaque Index.