The impact of interventions on improving oral frailty in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis searched the Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science databases on May 18, 2023, for randomized controlled trials that examined the effectiveness of oral health interventions in improving oral frailty in community-dwelling older adults. We included 11 randomized controlled trials from four countries (734 participants). Interventions included oral exercise, oral exercise plus oral health education, and exercise plus oral health education and nutritional instruction. Oral exercise intervention significantly improved tongue-lip motor function "pa" pronunciation, tongue pressure, chewing function, and the maximum occlusal force (all P < 0.05). Participants in the exercise plus education and diet intervention group showed improved tongue pressure and maximum occlusal force (all P < 0.05). Our analysis suggests that oral exercise interventions improve oral motor function and muscle strength, which are key to delaying the progression of oral frailty, preventing subsequent adverse outcomes such as falls and frailty, and enhancing quality of life in community-dwelling older adults.