A study has found that elderly patients who cannot chew their food properly due to poor dental conditions are at an increased risk of developing dementia.
A research team led by Professors Cha Jae-guk, Park Jin-young, and Ko Kyung-ah of the Department of Periodontology at Yonsei University School of Dentistry announced on the 2nd that the risk of dementia increases if elderly patients aged 60 years or older lose their chewing ability by neglecting dental restoration measures such as implants after tooth extraction.
It is known that when the chewing ability to chew food decreases, the brain’s learning ability and memory ability may decrease. This is because food cannot be broken down into small pieces, so nutrients are not absorbed well into the body, and food that enters the gums can rot and cause chronic periodontitis, which can damage the central nervous system. However, a correlation between tooth loss and dementia has not been established.
The research team investigated the correlation between tooth loss and dementia in 488 patients (122 in the dementia group, 366 in the control group) who had been treated at Yonsei University Dental College Hospital between 2014 and 2020. The 488 patients surveyed were patients who visited the hospital for the first time between 2005 and 2010 and then returned to the hospital.
In order to compare and evaluate the chewing ability of the two test groups, the number of missing teeth and the rate of restoration measures were investigated. As a result, the average number of teeth decreased in the dementia group was 6.25, which was more than that of the control group (4.53).
The rate of leaving the empty area of the tooth as it is without restoration after tooth extraction was also higher in the dementia group. The neglect rate of missing teeth in the dementia group was 56.48%, but in the control group it was 42.6%. In the control group that did not develop dementia, when teeth were lost due to tooth extraction, etc., 77.48% of the cases were filled with implants and prosthetics to preserve masticatory ability, which was more than that of the dementia group (66.56%).
Professor Cha Jae-guk said, “It is easy to lose teeth due to natural loss or tooth extraction with aging, but if left as it is, you will not be able to chew food well,” said Professor Cha Jae-guk. Maintaining masticatory ability with treatment is important for preventing dementia,” he said.
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the Yonsei Medical Journal (YMJ), a comprehensive medical journal published by Yonsei University College of Medicine.