Losing teeth in old age is a major risk factor for developing dementia, a Tohoku University research team has found from tracking data on about 50,000 people, placing tooth loss high among preventable risks and highest of all for men.
The team compared tooth loss with the preventable risk factors for dementia published in a medical journal in 2024. Tooth loss ranked near the top of that list.
Dementia cases are projected to triple from current levels by 2050, raising the importance of prevention. In 2024 the British medical journal the Lancet reported 14 preventable risk factors, including hearing loss and lack of exercise, after analyzing earlier papers.
Oral-related items were judged to lack sufficient scientific evidence at that time. The Tohoku University team set out to test the link with its own data.
Nine years of follow-up
The team analyzed tracking data on 47,293 people aged 65 or older, with an average age of 73.5, in 22 municipalities nationwide. The data covered about nine years, from 2013 to 2022.
Excluding high LDL cholesterol and air pollution, the team compared the 12 factors that could be assessed from the data with the risk of having fewer than 20 teeth remaining.
Tooth loss ranked high among the factors in its link to dementia onset, and was the highest risk for men.