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Objectives: Our research intended to explore the association and mediators (perceived social support and sleep quality) between the impact of oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) and depression among Chinese older adults. Methods: A stratified, multi‐stage random sampling approach was used in our study. A total of 3896 older individuals aged 60 years and older were included. Process macro 3.5 for SPSS was utilized for testing mediation hypotheses. Results: The mean score of the OHRQoL of the elderly was 3.26 ± 7.15. The correlation coefficient between OHRQoL and depression was 0.25 (p < 0.001). Perceived social support (β = 0.009, 95% CI = 0.006, 0.012) and sleep quality (β = 0.073, 95% CI = 0.074, 0.093) mediated the relationship between OHRQoL and depression, respectively. The association between OHRQoL and depression was mediated sequentially by perceived social support and sleep quality (β = 0.004, 95% CI = 0.002, 0.006). Conclusions: The participants reported relatively good OHRQoL. OHRQoL and depression showed a significant positive correlation. The relationship between OHRQoL and depression among Chinese seniors was mediated by perceived social support and sleep quality. Both directly and indirectly, OHRQoL can affect depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]