people who pay attention to their pearly whites may have one more reason to smile thanks to new research linking healthy teeth to a healthy mind.
the preliminary study, set to be presented this week at
international stroke conference 2023
, found that people who are predisposed to poor oral health may be forced to grin and bear the consequences later in life. the team of researchers also found that seeking early treatment for overlooked oral issues may lead to significant benefits to brain health.
previous research has shown that the consequences of ignoring good dental hygiene, including cavities and
gum disease
, are linked to
high blood pressure
and other risk factors associated with
heart disease
.
“what hasn’t been clear is whether poor oral health affected brain health, meaning the functional status of a person’s brain, which we are now able to understand better using neuroimaging tools such as magnetic resonance imaging or mri,”
said cyprien rivier
, study author and a postdoctoral fellow in neurology at the yale school of medicine in new haven, connecticut.
“studying oral health is especially important because poor oral health happens frequently and is an easily modifiable risk factor — everyone can effectively improve their oral health with minimal time and financial investment.”
to explore the relationship, researchers studied the health data of around 40,000 adults (46 per cent male, with an average age of 57 years) without a history of stroke who were enrolled in the
u.k. biobank,
a large-scale biomedical database that contains the health information of about half a million participants. t
he group was screened for 105 genetic variants known to make a person more likely to experience cavities, dentures and missing teeth as they grow older.
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