Seniors visit dentist less, at risk of growing more frail, says study

As they grow older, Singaporeans visit the dentist less often, get lonelier and face the risk of becoming more frail.

- Joyce Teo Senior Health Correspondent

This was revealed in a recent nationwide longitudinal study that showed only around a quarter of the seniors had visited a dentist within the past six months, while nearly one-third had not seen a dentist in more than five years.

"It is possible that people only visit the dentist when they have a problem, but they may not consider prevention as something they could engage in, in the context of dental health," said Associate Professor Rahul Malhotra.

The deputy director of the Centre for Ageing Research and Education at Duke-NUS Medical School is the first author of the latest tranche of the Transitions in Health, Employment, Social Engagement and Intergenerational Transfers in Singapore (The Signs) study.

With recent research and policy focus on oral health, and research studies highlighting its link to other health and social outcomes, a dental module was added to this study round, he said.

The introduction of new dental subsidies under the CHAS card presents a good opportunity to increase awareness among older adults about the importance of regular dental checkups, he added.

A total of 1,535 seniors aged 67 to 101, of whom 64 were aged 90 and above, were surveyed. They are part of the original cohort recruited for study in 2016-2017.

The results were published on Dec 30, 2025. This round of the study – Wave 3a – was funded by the Ageing Planning Office at the Ministry of Health.

Such studies offer insights that would help shape interventions aimed at helping Singapore's rapidly growing senior population maintain health and social connection to age well.