Poor dental health may increase risk of Alzheimer’s disease: study

Poor dental health may lead to decreased brain volume and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a study has warned. The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that gum disease and tooth loss are associated with brain shrinkage in the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the study does not prove that gum disease or tooth loss causes Alzheimer’s disease; It only shows one connection.

Satoshi Yamaguchi said, “Dental wear and gum disease, which is inflammation of the tissue surrounding the teeth, which can cause the gums to shrink and teeth to become loose, are very common, so evaluating a possible association with dementia is important.” incredibly important.” Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

“Our study found that these conditions may play a role in the health of the brain region that controls thinking and memory, giving people another reason to take better care of their teeth.” The study included 172 people with an average age of 67 who had no memory problems at the start of the study.

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At the start of the study the participants were given a dental examination and a memory test. They also had brain scans to measure hippocampal volume at the start of the study and again after four years.

The researchers found that the number of teeth and the amount of gum disease were associated with changes in the brain’s left hippocampus. Fewer teeth are associated with a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the left hippocampus in people with mild gum disease.

However, for those with severe gum disease, having more teeth was associated with a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the same area of ​​the brain. After adjusting for age, the researchers found that for people with mild gum disease, the increase in the rate of brain shrinkage due to one missing tooth was equivalent to approximately one year of brain aging.

In contrast, for people with severe gum disease the increase in brain shrinkage caused by one more tooth was equivalent to 1.3 years of brain aging. Another recent study showed that skipping dental hygiene sessions at night could increase the risk of heart disease.

“These results highlight the importance of maintaining dental health, not just maintaining teeth,” Yamaguchi said. “It is important to control the progression of gum disease through regular dental checkups, and teeth with severe gum disease may need to be extracted and replaced with appropriate prosthetic devices.”