Dementia and Oral Health: The affinity between the number of teeth missing and the diminishing cognitive function strengthens the evidence linking tooth loss to dementia risk.
Highlights:
Theoral-brain function-related pathogenesisexplored during a meta-analysis study established the dose-response link between tooth loss and dementia risk.- The dose-response association between tooth loss and dementia risk is identified
- That means the more the number of teeth is missing, the higher will be the risk of dementia
- Masticatory dysfunction, gum diseases, and nutritional deficiency related to tooth loss are the other contributing factors
- Interventions to avoid tooth loss can prevent dementia
Oral Health Plays an Essential Role in Overall Health as We Grow Older
Oral health is an important component to maintain overall health but can be especially critical for the older population, reports a new study.
Oral health is an important component to maintain overall health but can be especially critical for the older population, reports a new study.
‘The dementia risk associated with the number of teeth lost demands intervention to avoid tooth loss.The timely treatment with dentures and maintaining good oral health may preserve cognitive function.’
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Tooth Loss and Dementia Interconnection
Tooth loss frequently occurs due to decay, gum diseases, tumors, and trauma accompanied by masticatory dysfunction, poor absorption of nutrients, pronunciation difficulty, and aged appearance. Tooth loss is no longer considered a simple dental problem, but a risk factor for systemic diseasessuch as cardiovascular disease, cancers, obesity, stroke, and mental illnesses.Dementia is a progressive degeneration disorder of the central nervous system. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type accounting for 60–70% of all dementia cases. The main clinical features of dementia include cognitive impairment, abnormal behavior, and decreased ability to run daily life.
As tooth loss and dementia are common age-related diseases, the progressing aging population increased the attention towards the association between oral-brain function disorders.
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Tooth Loss Tied to Higher Risk of Heart Disease
Tooth loss has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.
Tooth loss has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.
The Dose– Response Analysis
Though several systematic reviews and meta-analyses have examined the link between tooth loss and cognitive status, a dose-response analysis on relevant cohort studies provided the updated evidence on the relationship between the number of teeth lost and dementia.The study population criteria were patients suffering tooth loss, and/or dementia irrespective of gender, age and race with a control group.
Finally, 14 studies were included in their analysis involving a total of 34,074 adults and 4,689 cases of people with diminished cognitive function.
The researchers discovered that the adults with more tooth loss had 1.48 times higher risk of developing cognitive impairment and 1.28 times higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia, even after controlling for other factors. However, adults missing teeth are more likely to have cognitive impairment without dentures (23.8 percent) than those with dentures (16.9 percent).
This revealed that the association between tooth loss and cognitive impairment is not significant when participants had dentures. They also conducted an analysis using a subset of eight studies to determine if there was a dose-response relationship between tooth loss and cognitive impairment.
Their findings confirmed this relationship; for each additional missing tooth risk of cognitive impairment increased a 1.4 percent and 1.1 percent increased risk of being diagnosed with dementia.
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Dementia Risk Calculator
Dementia Risk Calculator is a tool to find out the risk of dementia among people over the age of 65.It also provides diet tips on Dementia.
Dementia Risk Calculator is a tool to find out the risk of dementia among people over the age of 65.It also provides diet tips on Dementia.
Other Contributing Factors
The positive association between the two diseases might occur due to the alteration of chewing ability that decreased cerebral blood circulation and neurotransmitter secretion.Gum diseases that cause tooth loss also stimulate the release of some cytokines-related to the activation of molecules contributing to neurodegeneration.
Nutritional deficiency related to tooth loss is also regarded as a marker for dementia, especially when the deficiency involves lessened intakes of protein and essential vitamins.
Internal connections between chewing ability, nutrient intakes increased inflammatory markers, psychosocial factors, and the susceptibility among tooth loss patients to the various subtypes of dementia need to be explored in future studies.
Periodontitis may Increase Dementia Risk
People with chronic periodontitis had a 6 percent higher risk for dementia than did people without periodontitis, stated new research.
People with chronic periodontitis had a 6 percent higher risk for dementia than did people without periodontitis, stated new research.
What are the Measures to Prevent Dementia?
- Oral health education programs to give awareness about the importance of oral health
- Using oral disease detection tools
- Annual oral health screening among vulnerable population
- Approach dentist for adequate oral care and correct treatment planning
- Behavioral management of dementia patients
- Powered toothbrushes for dexterity issues
- Nutritional supplements
References:
- Tooth Loss Is Associated With Increased Risk of Dementia and With a Dose-Response Relationship - (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00415/full)
- Tooth loss as a risk factor for dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis of 21 observational studies - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6195976/)
Source-Medindia
