Does Oral Health Affect Your Brain? What Study Says

Brain charts show changes in brain over time.

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People who are genetically predisposed to poor oral health also tend to have poorer brain health, shows a study by researchers from the Yale School of Medicine.

The big point:

Studying oral health is especially important because it is risk factor one can assess and control – like taking steps to effectively improve one's oral health.

What they said:

“We already know that poor oral health increases the risk of stroke, but we did not know whether poor oral health affected brain health. Brain health is a continuous measure that describes the functional status of a person’s brain using neuroimaging tools such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging),” study author Dr Cyprien Rivier told Medical News Today (MNT).

How was it done:

• Researchers reportedly analysed data from the UK Biobank, selecting individuals who had never experienced a stroke.

• They looked for 100 genetic variants associated with poor oral health outcomes, such as missing teeth and cavities.

• They then looked at brain scans to measure indicators of brain health.

The researchers found that the genetically-increased risk of poor oral health was associated with poorer brain health.

“People who were genetically prone to cavities, missing teeth, or needing dentures had a higher burden of silent cerebrovascular disease, as represented by a 24% increase in the amount of white matter hyperintensities visible on the MRI images,” Dr. Rivier said.