{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,18]],"date-time":"2026-01-18T11:06:33Z","timestamp":1768734393330,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750204800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Vitamin B12 plays a crucial role in overall health, yet its impact on dental health, particularly dental caries, remains underexplored. Older adults are at an increased risk of vitamin B12 deficiency and dental disease, but the relationship between these two factors is not well understood. This study examines the association between serum vitamin B12 levels and dental health in older adults using data from the NHANES 2011\u20132014\u202fcycles.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using NHANES data from 1,907 participants aged 65 and older. Serum vitamin B12 levels were categorized as normal (&amp;gt;221\u202fpmol\/L), marginal (148\u2013221\u202fpmol\/L), and deficient (&amp;lt;148\u202fpmol\/L). Dental status was assessed using the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index based on NHANES dental health examinations. Poisson regression models evaluated associations between vitamin B12 levels and DMFT scores, adjusting for age, sex, race\/ethnicity, education, and income.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Lower vitamin B12 levels were significantly associated with higher DMFT scores (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). Participants with marginal and deficient vitamin B12 levels exhibited increased DMFT scores compared to those with normal vitamin B12 levels, and these differences persisted after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. The findings suggest that inadequate vitamin B12 status may contribute to a greater cumulative burden of dental disease in older adults.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings suggest that vitamin B12 deficiency may contribute to a greater lifetime burden of dental disease in older adults. Further research is needed to explore causal mechanisms and assess whether vitamin B12 supplementation could be a preventive measure for maintaining dental health in aging populations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2025.1589062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T04:16:02Z","timestamp":1750220162000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Exploring the association of vitamin B12 deficiency and dental health in older adults"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Man","family":"Hung","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amir","family":"Mohajeri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jacob","family":"Marx","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Corban","family":"Ward","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martin S.","family":"Lipsky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"354","DOI":"10.1111\/scd.12385","article-title":"Oral health as a gateway to overall health and well-being: surveillance of the geriatric population in the United States","volume":"39","author":"Hung","year":"2019","journal-title":"Spec Care Dentist"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1186\/1477-7525-10-50","article-title":"Oral health-related quality of life in an aging Canadian population","volume":"10","author":"Kotzer","year":"2012","journal-title":"Health Qual Life Outcomes"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1111\/jgs.16154","article-title":"The prevention of infections in older adults: Oral health","volume":"68","author":"Coll","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Am Geriatr Soc"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0528.2004.00219.x","article-title":"Improving the Oral health of older people: the approach of the who global Oral health Programme","volume":"33","author":"Petersen","year":"2005","journal-title":"Community Dent Oral Epidemiol"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1016\/j.disamonth.2018.09.009","article-title":"Nutrition and Oral health","volume":"65","author":"Gondivkar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Dis Mon"},{"key":"ref6","first-page":"694","article-title":"The role of diet and nutrition in the etiology and prevention of oral diseases","volume":"83","author":"Moynihan","year":"2005","journal-title":"Bull World Health Organ"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/78.1.3","article-title":"Vegetarianism and vitamin B-12 (cobalamin) deficiency","volume":"78","author":"Antony","year":"2003","journal-title":"Am J Clin Nutr"},{"key":"ref8","volume-title":"Vitamin B12. 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