Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study participants according to the number of remaining teeth (n = 14,206)

No. of subjects

6349

3452

4405

Age (years) (mean (SD))

76.0 (6.2)

73.1 (5.3)

71.4 (4.9)

 < 0.001

Range of Age (years)

65–101

65–94

65–96

Men (%)

41.7

45.8

49.3

 < 0.001

Use of dentures (%)

92.6

75.0

27.6

 < 0.001

Brushing ≥ 2 times per day (%)

53.2

62.1

66.5

 < 0.001

Regular dental checkup (%)

24.1

52.3

65.1

 < 0.001

Body mass index (kg/m2) (mean(SD))

23.3 (3.5)

23.7 (3.3)

23.8 (3.2)

 < 0.001

Current smokers (%)

13.0

12.5

9.9

 < 0.001

Time spent walking < 0.5 h/d (%)

46.1

33.7

30.7

 < 0.001

High school or higher (%)

65.2

71.2

76.4

 < 0.001

History of disease (%)

 Hypertension

42.9

43.6

43.4

0.006

 Diabetes mellitus

12.6

12.1

10.6

0.334

 Stroke

3.1

2.7

2.3

0.043

 Myocardial infarction

6.0

4.7

3.9

0.550

 Cancer

9.0

8.4

8.6

0.278