BackgroundThe aging of Chinese society has increased interest in improving the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the elderly, including their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). This study aims to evaluate the OHRQoL of elders living in Sichuan Province (China) and to explore the explanatory factors of their OHRQoL.MethodsA cross-sectional study conducted in 2016 in the Sichuan Province analyzed data from 744 elders, aged 65 to 74 years (mean age 69.3, 51.3% female). Clinical examinations and questionnaires were completed to collect information on the participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, dental status, subjective health conditions and General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) score.ResultsThe mean GOHAI score was 48.23 (SD 7.62), and the median score was 49. After adjustment for age and gender, the multiple linear regression analysis showed that participants who were female, had fair or poor self-rated oral health, decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) score ≥ 20, fair or poor self-rated general health, and ≥ 2 teeth with root caries had worse OHRQoL, and participants who were edentulous had better OHRQoL (F = 29.58, p < 0.001).ConclusionThe OHRQoL of the elders living in Sichuan Province was relatively good. The explanatory variables were gender; self-rated oral health; DMFT score; self-rated general health; number of natural teeth; and number of teeth with root caries. More attention should be paid to caries status and retention of healthy teeth to improve the OHRQoL of elders in Sichuan Province, preserving a healthy mouth contributes to better OHRQoL.