Periodontal Disease as a Marker of Malnutrition Risk in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Periodontal disease (PD), a prevalent condition in older adults, may impair nutritional status through reduced masticatory function, systemic inflammation, and altered dietary intake. However, few studies have examined the relationship between clinically assessed PD and validated nutritional risk metrics, that is, the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI). In the present study, we examined the association of PD severity with GNRI-defined malnutrition risk in a nationally representative sample of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).