{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T22:07:28Z","timestamp":1788300448680,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":81,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767571200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Geriatrics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The global population aged 65 and older is expected to double from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion by 2050. Despite often being treated separately in clinical practice and policy, oral health and mental health are fundamentally interconnected in older adulthood, forming a bidirectional relationship that exacerbates disability, social inequity, and systemic healthcare challenges. This narrative review aims to summarize the two-way relationship between mental and oral health and emphasize their combined impact on systemic health, social engagement, and independence among ageing populations. The bidirectional relationship has profound clinical significance. Untreated oral diseases induce chronic pain and cause social embarrassment, aggravating pre-existing depression and anxiety. Periodontal disease can worsen systemic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia via a shared inflammatory pathway. Conversely, mental health issues\u2014including depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and the use of psychotropic medications\u2014reduce motivation for oral care, prompt dental neglect, and affect salivary function, deteriorating oral health. Despite clear connections, systemic gaps persist, including fragmented healthcare systems, financial barriers, stigma, lack of awareness, and caregiver burnout. To address these challenges, strategies such as developing integrated care models to unify dental and mental health services, reforming policies to prioritize oral and mental health parity, advocating anti-stigma campaigns to clear the misconceptions, and implementing community-based healthcare programmes to reach underserved older adults are essential. By recognizing oral health as a vital component of mental resilience, societies can transform ageing into an era of empowered well-being, where the mouth\u2013mind connection promotes holistic health rather than functional decline.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/geriatrics11010008","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,6]],"date-time":"2026-01-06T08:42:58Z","timestamp":1767688978000},"page":"8","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Mouth\u2013Mind Connection: Interplay of Oral and Mental Health in Older Adults"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6210-9293","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alice Kit Ying","family":"Chan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-0589-2996","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joanna Cheuk Yan","family":"Hui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2035-9873","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lindsey Lingxi","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8167-0430","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chun Hung","family":"Chu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"United Nations (2025, November 19). 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