How is tooth loss related to dementia?

Each missing tooth increases the risk of cognitive decline. Research conducted by the New York University Rory Meyers School of Nursing concludes that tooth loss is a “determining” risk factor for dementia. The relationship, they say, is clear: fewer teeth, more intellectual damage. The good news is that triggering this process can be stopped with good oral hygiene. Giving up is the worst thing that can be done; and the mouth reflects like no other part of the body the state of health of a person.

The risk of cognitive decline was, in fact, not as significant among adults who had dentures, had their cavities corrected, or had implants replaced missing teeth. “What they tell us is something that makes a lot of sense, because to a large extent we lose our teeth due to neglect, due to bad habits”, values ​​the stomatologist doctor Eduardo Anitua, director of the BTI institute and the Institute of Regenerative Medicine and Oral Implantology of the University of the Basque Country (UPV).

People who tend to take little care of themselves, he says, have a greater predisposition to suffer from all kinds of diseases, not only of the oral cavity, but also others such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even dementia. The relationship between the state of the mouth and general health is very close. «It is easy to think that the systematic deterioration of health is inexorably accompanied by a deterioration in the mouth; but it also happens the other way around, unattended oral damage is one of the factors that contribute to progressive systemic damage”, explains the expert.

The prosthetics are still alive

A recent investigation carried out by the General Council of Dentists of Spain concludes that 30% of people between the ages of 35 and 44 need a dental prosthesis, while in the age group from 65 to 74 this figure rises to 45%. Beyond that border,
edentulism –which is how specialists know tooth loss– affects 65% of the population in Spain. “We cannot say that dentures have passed into history. We have a lot of old people who need to chew. But the situation – from the point of view of treatments and, therefore, for patients, has changed radically in the last twenty years”, confirms the Professor of Dentistry at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) José Manuel Aguirre. At the end of the last century, more than half of the population over 70 years of age had to resort to the use of dental prostheses, while today, according to the specialist, there are many people who exceed that age and still have their teeth . “That was unthinkable before,” he stresses.

third generation of teeth

More and more pieces are kept for more years. But caries and periodontal disease – the inflammation of the gums caused, above all, by tobacco consumption but also for genetic reasons and lack of hygiene, among others – continue to be the main causes of loss, as Aguirre reminds the doors of World Dental Health Day, which is commemorated this March 20. «Dental prostheses, which have improved a lot, have opened up a world of possibilities, but there are times when they can no longer be put on. If there is no bone, it is like trying to put a painting on a plasterboard wall. Bad business! », He comments.

Twenty years ago, stem cell research opened up the possibility of thinking about the idea of ​​creating any type of tissue, including organs, from organic material. Dentistry consultations do not have it. “Even if we can generate tooth germs in the laboratory, something like this can never be transferred to the clinic. The development of a tooth can take ten years and now on the same day or two we put a state-of-the-art implant”, argues Anitua, who will receive the National Innovation Award from King Felipe IV on Monday

And gain a third generation of teeth as a consequence of a longer life? “That’s not such a far-fetched idea. The use of plasma rich in growth factors already gives us the possibility of regenerating tissue and placing an implant in the same place where it was lost », he advances. Science is on its way.