Image: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)

A healthy mouth could help keep the brain healthy as well, recent research out this week suggests. The study, a broad review of the prevailing evidence, found that poor dental health was linked to a later higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia. This increased risk was especially apparent for those missing some or all of their teeth.

Many studies have indicated that the health of our teeth and gums can influence the body elsewhere, including the brain. But other studies have been less conclusive, and there stays much uncertain in regards to the strength and direction of this relationship. It’s possible, for example, that the link may be explained by people developing poor dental health because of this of their early dementia, as a substitute of the opposite way around—an example of something scientists call reverse causality.

In recent research by a team from the University of Eastern Finland, they sought to conduct an updated meta-analysis of the evidence to this point, one that might attempt to account for these gaps in knowledge. They collected and analyzed 47 longitudinal studies that tracked people’s oral and brain health over time, looking specifically at those that hadn’t been diagnosed with dementia at the beginning of the study.

Ultimately, they found that folks with poor oral health were 23% more prone to eventually develop some amount of cognitive decline, and 21% more prone to develop dementia. And of the assorted measures of oral health studied, additionally they found that tooth loss particularly was independently related to cognitive decline and dementia.

“Poor periodontal health and tooth loss appear to extend the chance of each cognitive decline and dementia,” the authors wrote of their paper, published Thursday within the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

G/O Media may get a commission

They caution that the evidence they examined remains to be limited and has many caveats, so it’s hard to attract firm conclusions. Most of the studies checked out different groups of individuals (some only included people over 65) or tracked them for various periods of time, while others could have had methodological problems of their design. However the authors say theirs is the biggest review of its kind thus far. In addition they tried to account for reverse causality in a separate evaluation, and located that it could explain some but not the entire connection seen here.

In other words, while there is likely to be an actual cause-and-effect link between poor oral health and dementia, it is going to take more well-done research to raised understand the specifics of this relationship, including the precise mechanisms behind it. Some scientists theorize, for example, that the bacteria present in individuals with gum disease may help trigger or speed up the complex chain of events that results in dementia. The team behind this paper also notes that losing teeth could harm the aging brain by depriving people of familiar sensations. And there are likely other aspects that may negatively affect each the mouth and brain at the identical time, akin to dietary deficiencies.

In fact, keeping your mouth in good condition already has plenty of advantages, including for heart health. So even when there’s still rather a lot left to be studied here, it’s yet another excuse to brush your teeth day by day and to see a dentist commonly. The authors also indicate that more needs to be done to make sure that people can get access to good dental care throughout their lives.

“Given the impact of cognitive deterioration on periodontal health, oral health professionals are well-placed to trace and intervene in early changes in periodontal health and oral self-care, but provided that dental healthcare services are sustained over time and adequate oral health support is provided in the house setting when deterioration in self-care is identified,” they wrote.