Tooth loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and volumetric brain differences: a population-based study

Can you be too old for oral implants? An update on ageing and plasticity in the oro‐facial sensorimotor system

“…These include alterations to the dental occlusion such as trimming of teeth to take them out of occlusal contacts, orthodontic tooth movement and incisor or molar tooth extraction . It has also been recently shown in rodents that as well as the tooth extraction‐induced functional changes in the oro‐facial sensorimotor cortex, there are also structural changes in this cortical region that are manifested as alterations in the number and morphology of glia and a decreased volume of this cortical region ; this latter finding is consistent with the findings of functional neuroplastic changes in the oro‐facial sensorimotor cortex reflected as decreased jaw and tongue motor representations in this region following tooth extraction in rodents and with reports from studies in humans and laboratory animals that tooth loss is associated with reduced activation in the sensorimotor cortex (and other CNS areas) although a brief loss of sensory input (produced by local anaesthesia) from a single tooth may be insufficient to produce evidence of neuroplasticity of the oro‐facial sensorimotor cortex …”

“…Furthermore, additional findings that neuroplasticity occurred in other CNS areas (prefrontal cortex, Broca's area, supplementary motor area, hippocampus, basal ganglia) as well as the oro-facial sensorimotor cortex emphasises the point that dental manipulations can have widespread effects in the CNS. Molar tooth extraction in rodents may have effects in CNS areas well beyond the oro-facial sensorimotor cortex (see above), and tooth loss in humans as well as laboratory animals has been reported to be associated with widespread structural and functional changes in CNS regions involved not only in sensorimotor behaviours but also in CNS regions contributing to such diverse functions as memory, cognition, attention and emotion 88,[90][91][92] ; indeed, some of these studies have reported deficits in one or more of these functions following extensive tooth loss. This is further considered in relation to effects of tooth loss in the elderly and brings us to consider ageing-related changes in sensorimotor and related functions and the peripheral and CNS substrates underlying them.…”

The relation of poor mastication with cognition and dementia risk: a population-based longitudinal study

“…Several studies have shown that tooth loss is associated with steeper global cognitive decline [4,5], an increased risk for cognitive impairment [6][7][8] and dementia [9], as well as brain atrophy in cognitively normal older individuals [10]. One cross-sectional study found that jaw mobility, bite strength and complaints about AGING masticatory function were associated with variation in episodic memory and executive function [11].…”

Rehabilitation of lost teeth related to maintenance of cognitive function

“…Therefore, the balanced nutrition including vegetables could be recommended to prevent tooth loss and CI. Furthermore, tooth loss is associated with neurodegenerative markers using MRI, which highlight the need of timely monitoring of cognitive functioning among older adults with tooth loss for early detection and prevention of accelerated cognitive decline (Dintica et al, ). More evidence should be needed to use these findings in clinically.…”

“…Although some functional posterior teeth loss could result to difficulty in mastication (Ueno, Yanagisawa, Shinada, Ohara, & Kawaguchi, ), oral rehabilitation could play an important role in the maintenance of cognitive function. Many human epidemiological studies suggested that tooth loss is associated with CI (Dintica et al, ; Ishimiya et al, ; Kaye et al, ; Okamoto et al, ; Saito et al, ; Zuluaga, Ferreira, Montoya, & Willumsen, ). However, there are inconsistency in the evidence with some reporting no association between tooth loss and CI (Chen, Shuman, Hodges, Gatewood, & Xu, ; Syrjala et al, ).…”