Background Long-term care (LTC) costs create burdens on aging societies. Maintaining oral health through dental visits may result in shorter LTC periods, thereby decreasing LTC costs; however, this remains unverified. We examined whether dental visits in the past 6 months were associated with cumulative LTC insurance (LTCI) costs. Methods This cohort study of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study targeted independent adults aged≥65 years in 2010 over an 8-year follow-up. We used data from a self-reported questionnaire and LTCI records from the municipalities. The outcome was cumulative LTCI costs, and exposure was dental visits within 6 months for prevention, treatment, and prevention or treatment. A 2-part model was used to estimate the differences in the predicted cumulative LTCI costs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each dental visit. Results The mean age of the 8 429 participants was 73.7 years (standard deviation [SD] = 6.0), and 46.1% were men. During the follow-up period, 17.6% started using LTCI services. The mean cumulative LTCI cost was USD 4 877.0 (SD = 19 082.1). The predicted cumulative LTCI costs were lower among those had dental visits than among those who did not. The differences in predicted cumulative LTCI cost were −USD 1 089.9 (95% CI = −1 888.5 to −291.2) for dental preventive visits, −USD 806.7 (95% CI = −1 647.4 to 34.0) for treatment visits, and −USD 980.6 (95% CI = −1 835.7 to −125.5) for preventive or treatment visits. Conclusions Dental visits, particularly preventive visits, were associated with lower cumulative LTCI costs. Maintaining oral health through dental visits may effectively reduce LTCI costs.

中文翻译：

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日本老年人不同牙科就诊模式的累积长期护理费用的差异：JAGES 队列研究


背景 长期护理 （LTC） 费用给老龄化社会带来了负担。通过看牙医来保持口腔健康可能会缩短 LTC 时间，从而降低 LTC 成本;然而，这仍未得到证实。我们检查了过去 6 个月的牙科就诊是否与累积 LTC 保险 （LTCI） 费用相关。方法 日本老年学评估研究的这项队列研究针对 2010 年 65 岁的独立成年人≥进行了 8 年的随访。我们使用了来自自我报告问卷的数据和来自市政当局的 LTCI 记录。结局是累积 LTCI 成本，暴露是 6 个月内为预防、治疗和预防或治疗而去看牙医。使用由两部分组成的模型来估计每次牙科就诊的预测累积 LTCI 成本和 95% 置信区间 （CIs） 的差异。结果 8 429 名参与者的平均年龄为 73.7 岁 （标准差 [SD] = 6.0），其中 46.1% 为男性。在随访期间，17.6% 的人开始使用 LTCI 服务。平均累积 LTCI 成本为 4 877.0 美元 （SD = 19 082.1）。那些有牙科就诊的人预测的累积 LTCI 成本低于没有看牙的人。牙科预防就诊预测累积 LTCI 成本的差异为 -1 089.9 美元（95% CI = -1 888.5 至 -291.2），治疗就诊的 -806.7 美元（95% CI = -1 647.4 至 34.0）和 -980.6 美元（95% CI = -1 835.7 至 -125.5）预防或治疗就诊。结论 牙科就诊，尤其是预防性就诊，与较低的累积 LTCI 成本相关。通过看牙医来保持口腔健康可以有效降低 LTCI 成本。