Sources: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10669972/ and https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2025/25_0083.htm summarized by ChatGPT
This month in our Oral Health & The Whole Body Connection series and in honor of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness, we’re looking at a powerful question:
Can taking care of your teeth help protect your brain?
Studies suggest the answer might be “yes”—or at least, that your mouth and your memory are very much connected.
Poor Oral Health and a Higher Risk of Alzheimer’s
A 2023 study using electronic medical records from over 30 million adults aged 60 and older compared people with poor oral health (things like tooth decay, tooth loss, gum disease, and other serious dental problems) to those with healthy mouths.
The results were eye-opening:
- People with poor oral health had more than double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with healthy oral health.
- Conditions related to tooth loss were especially concerning—these were linked to more than a three-fold increase in Alzheimer’s risk.
- Even after researchers adjusted for age, gender, and several lab values (like cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammation markers), poor oral health still stood out as an independent risk factor for Alzheimer’s.
The study didn’t prove that bad teeth cause Alzheimer’s, but it strongly suggests that ongoing inflammation in the mouth, untreated gum disease, and tooth loss and difficulty chewing may all contribute to changes in the brain over time.
Tooth Loss, Dental Visits, and Early Memory Problems
A more recent 2025 study, looking at more than 83,000 adults aged 45 and older across the U.S., focused on something called subjective cognitive decline (SCD)—that’s when people feel their memory or thinking is getting worse, even if they don’t yet have a formal diagnosis.
Here’s what they found:
- Adults with poor oral health (at least one tooth lost due to decay or gum disease) had almost double the rate of memory complaints compared with those who hadn’t lost teeth.
- The more teeth people had lost, the higher their chances of reporting cognitive issues.
- For adults 45–64, those who had seen a dentist within the last year were less likely to report memory decline.
- Tooth loss was also linked with cognitive complaints in those 65+, but regular dental visits didn’t show as strong a protective effect in that older group.
Taken together, this suggests that midlife—your 40s, 50s, and early 60s—may be a crucial time to protect both your smile and your brain.
So what’s the take-away?
Together, these studies form a compelling narrative: the health of your mouth is deeply connected to the health of your mind. Tooth loss, gum disease, and chronic oral inflammation are not just local problems, they may be part of the complex web of factors that influence cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s risk.
The encouraging news is that oral health is one of the most modifiable parts of this web. Brushing, flossing, treating gum disease early, replacing missing teeth when appropriate, and keeping up with regular dental visits—especially during midlife—may not only preserve your smile but also support long-term cognitive well-being.
As researchers continue to explore this connection, one message is becoming increasingly clear: caring for your mouth is an important part of caring for your whole self. If you have questions about your oral health or how it relates to Alzheimer’s risk, our team is always here to help guide you.