Here’s how toothbrushing helps keep your brain young

Important in Alzheimer’s disease

According to researchers affiliated with Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, they observed that there was a measurable relationship between the degree of periodontitis, the number of teeth, and the rate of disappearance of the left hippocampus of the brain.

The hippocampus is a part of the brain that is particularly important for memory. Therefore, they are of central importance to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the Japanese research does not show that gingivitis or tooth loss cause Alzheimer’s disease – the research only reveals a link.

Another reason to take care of your teeth

“Tooth loss and gingivitis, an inflammatory condition of the tissues surrounding the teeth, are very common. So it’s critical to be able to establish a possible link to dementia,” explains Satoshi Yamaguchi, MD, a dental surgeon, who led the study.

“Our research reveals that these conditions may play a role in the part of the brain that deals with thinking and memory, providing another reason to take care of your teeth,” he continues.

Gum examination and tooth counting

the study It was performed on 172 people with an average age of 67 years. None of the participants had memory problems at the start of the experiment.

All subjects’ teeth and gums were examined, while their memory was tested before the start of the study. The researchers also performed brain scans to measure the size of the left Hippocampus before the study and again four years later.

The researchers counted all the subjects’ teeth and also checked for gingivitis by measuring the depth of the periodontal pockets. Deep periodontal pockets are synonymous with more advanced inflammation.

When they then compared the number of teeth and the degree of periodontitis with the size of the participants’ hippocampus, they could see a clear pattern.

One year of brain aging for each tooth

For those with a mild degree of periodontitis, fewer teeth were associated with faster atrophy of the left hippocampus. On the other hand, in those with advanced periodontitis, there was a measurable tendency for more teeth to be in the mouth synonymous with faster hippocampal atrophy.

After adjusting for differences in age, Japanese researchers found that in people with a mild degree of periodontitis, one tooth in the mouth equated to one year of faster brain aging. For people with advanced periodontitis, one more tooth in the mouth corresponds to 1.3 years of brain aging.

In one case, having more teeth in the mouth is an advantage and vice versa, in the other case, the research says nothing about it. The study has only shown that in some cases it is better to lose diseased and bad teeth in order to keep the gums healthy and protect the brain.

Our study stresses the importance of having healthy teeth and gums and not just preventing tooth loss at all costs. Satoshi Yamaguchi explains that if you have unhealthy teeth and develop gingivitis, it is related to brain atrophy, and recommends that these teeth be removed and replaced with prostheses.