Relationship between functional masticatory units and cognitive impairment in elderly persons.

Background: Studies on the elderly have reported that the risk of cognitive impairment is affected by chewing difficulty.

Objective: To determine whether there is a relationship between the number of pairs of antagonist teeth that come into contact when the mouth is closed (functional masticatory units [FMUs]) and the level of cognitive impairment.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study with 502 institutionalised White individuals older than 65 years, living in the northwest of Spain and Portugal.