Does Poor Oral Health Equate To Cognitive Decline?

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Does Poor Oral Health Equate To Cognitive Decline In Mackay At Plaza Dental
Our teeth and gums have a lot to say about our overall state of health, it seems. More evidence is emerging which links oral health to general wellbeing. Does poor oral health equate to cognitive decline? Cognitive relates to brain function and all things mental. Our cerebral, phrenic, and intellectual abilities, to put it more cogently. Why would this be so? I mean, we don’t literally eat our words, do we? Why should our teeth and gums have so much to say about how we think? What is really going on here?

Oral Hygiene, Health & ‘Out To Lunch’

The expression ‘out to lunch’ refers to being in a state of unawareness of one’s surroundings. Mental decline in other words. This idiom or slang is commonly prescribed to those with a vacant stare and often found in institutions where psychiatric drugs are heavily on the menu. In fact, you will find a strong correlation between serious mental illness and really bad states of oral health. Long term sufferers of conditions like schizophrenia and psychosis invariably present with parlous teeth and gums. Indeed, it is often the drugs prescribed for these conditions which exacerbate poor oral health.

Declining Cognitive Traits & Malcontent Gums & Teeth

Many of us know all about having troublesome teeth and gums. It is a cross that too many ordinary folk tend to bear. The relationship between our neglected oral health and failing faculties may not be so well known. Studies into older adults are revealing a strong correlation between periodontal disease and cognitive impairment and dementia. The data points to those having less teeth increasing the likelihood of developing dementia – if they do not have dentures.

“Tooth loss is also a risk factor for the development of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in an older Japanese population, as indicated by cross-sectional studies revealing that significant relationships were found between the number of remaining teeth, the length of the edentulous period, and cognitive function. Namely, tooth loss is reliably associated with cognitive dysfunction and increased risk of dementia.

Other studies on the relationship between oral health and cognitive function, other than the number of teeth, have suggested that decreased occlusal force may be associated with decreased cognitive function. Older adults with poor mastication had significantly lower cognitive function.

“This study revealed that poor oral health has long-term effects on cognitive function in older adults. Oral diadochokinesis “ta” is associated with changes in cognitive function over time, implying that improving oral motor function may be essential for maintaining cognitive function in older adults.”
– Thu Ya, M., Hasegawa, Y., Sta. Maria, M.T. et al. Predicting cognitive function changes from oral health status: a longitudinal cohort study. Sci Rep 14, 24153 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75169-8

The Depressing Reality Of No Teeth

Yes, it can make for depressive reading and, perhaps, to leaven this dark bread a little dry humour is called for. Do these case studies lack the ability to chew things over at the latter stage of their lives? In all seriousness, are our teeth and their masticating function are integral to our wellbeing to a degree not previously acknowledged? Many individuals in the missing teeth category confess to feelings of unworthiness or lack of something essential to their humanness. Their broken bite renders them less than. The great ape, the primate, has great power in its jaws. Missing teeth and gaps mean an impotence in this primal region. Life is less. Man is less. Woman less. Ergo mental decline follows.

Does Poor Oral Health Equate To Cognitive Decline At Mackay In Plaza Dental
Minus Mastication A Moot Point

Dental marketing bangs on about ‘perfect smiles’ all the time. So, is it any wonder that those in our ranks who lack these attributes should wither and pale? The gleaming grinning arches aggressively pose in every digital portrait captured. Hollywood smiles are whiter and brighter every passing day. Those with no teeth cannot tear the flesh from the bones of their T-bone steak. Is it a lack of protein for those condemned to consume soft foods like slop and soup? The data tells us that the loss of teeth equates to cognitive decline. Is it causational or merely correlational? Do toothless folk surrender and give up. Do they slip into that vacant state from despair at their gummy inability to chow down on life? It gives one pause for thought.

Regrowing Natural Teeth

New groundbreaking studies and testing have begun on human beings regrowing natural teeth. It is early days yet, but this avenue of research holds out hope for those who have been cursed by poor teeth and gum disease. Alas, I would not hold my breath if you are in the last third of your likely life span and not blessed with excessive wealth. Getting access to such seemingly miraculous manifestations of second chances will not come to so many in the near future. Still, it appears to be a wondrous possibility for future generations. Hopefully, it will not be quarantined for the super wealthy and kept on the top shelf for their exclusive patronage.

Japanese Research At The Cutting Edge Of Oral Health

If the data presented in this Japanese study indicates that how many teeth you have left can correlate with your level of cognitive function it paints a pretty bleak picture of the latter stages of human life. We humans have a Stoic predilection for making the best of a bad situation, however. Things may be falling out and dropping off but we soldier on in lots of instances over the long haul. Getting your teeth into something is an expression commonly used. An inability to do just that bespeaks of disengagement, albeit one forced upon the subject. Deriving nutrition from the act of eating is obviously an important component of the process. Many elderly people eat poorly and not enough. Again it is, I think, a surrendering to anti-living or a slow death. Life for many has not delivered what had been hoped for and the rituals of eating, defecating, sleeping, and going about one’s business become empty and tiresome. Having few or no teeth would weigh upon one in the senseless parade of living in an inadequate measure.

Don’t Forget to Masticate

Does poor oral health equate to cognitive decline? The moral of the story may be, perhaps, that to keep your edge you must keep masticating by hook or by crook. Get them dentures or implants and keep on going through those all-important motions – chewing the fat of life, so to speak. If you wish to stay sharp, then, gnaw, bite, chomp, munch, manducate, crunch, grind, and eat of life. Make the effort to maintain your brain or fail and wither.

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