Oral Health May Affect Dementia Risk

Oral Health May Affect Dementia Risk

Results from a recent study of older adults suggest that good oral health is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles followed 5,468 residents of a retirement community over an 18-year period and found that tooth loss and lack of brushing correlated to an increased risk of dementia.

None of the participants, who had a median age of 81, had dementia when the study began in 1992. They were evaluated for the following oral health parameters: number of intact teeth, presence of dentures, number of dental visits, and status of their oral self-care regimens. Cognitive health status was determined based on clinical evaluations, questionnaires, hospital information, and death certificates. During a follow-up conducted in 2010, researchers found that 21% of participants had gone on to develop dementia. Through an examination of the data, the team found that men who had difficulty chewing and did not wear dentures were at a 91% higher risk of acquiring dementia than men who had enough natural teeth to allow for adequate chewing. The same elevated risk was found among the female participants, but it was not statistically significant. They also discovered that those who did not brush their teeth every day were at a 22% to 65% greater risk of dementia than the subjects who brushed their teeth three times a day.

This cohort study demonstrates an association between oral health and dementia risk, but whether the relationship is causal remains unclear, and study limitations—including the reliance on self-reporting of oral health status as opposed to conducting oral examinations—may have affected the results.