Oral Health Status of Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Analysis of the Literature

Over the past thirty years, much of the research interest has shifted towards the possible presence of a pre-dementia stage, often coined mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This may represent a valuable ‘window’ for health care professionals to intervene and manage modifiable risk factors in an attempt to delay progression of cognitive impairments. It also offers an opportunity to develop contingencies before patients potentially progress into dementia. Since 1989, the diagnostic criteria of MCI has evolved, with the most recent criteria being published in 2018. The heterogeneity of the diagnostic criteria and variability in oral health assessment indices has meant research into this group is difficult. Therefore, whilst numerous studies have explored the oral health status of patients with dementia, there are no known reviews on the oral health status of patients diagnosed with MCI. This systematic review was therefore conducted to determine the oral health status of patients with MCI. An electronic search was conducted using two different databases (National Library of Medicine (MEDLINE by PubMed) and EMBASE (Ovid). Keywords and search terms were developed, duplicate articles were removed and screened based on the selected research question. Twelve studies were selected, meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The heterogeneity between the studies was considered too large to conduct a meta-analysis. The oral health status of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was classified into six domains which are tooth status, periodontal status, oral hygiene status, denture and prosthesis status, oral pathology and others. It is difficult make concrete conclusions regarding the oral health status of patients with MCI. However, these patients did demonstrate a high prevalence of periodontal disease and had a lower risk of other oral diseases such as dental caries. Standardising the clinical diagnostic criteria for MCI and using universal objective oral health measurement indices will help reduce inconsistencies and disagreements in oral health findings whilst allowing meta-analyses to take place.