Dental Update: Clean Teeth & Brain Power

Here's an interesting article about the importance of routine dental cleanings and research into a possible relationship to your brain. Remember - Dental cleanings should be completed every six months or more frequently when recommended by your family dentist or periodontist. If you have not had a cleaning recently, please contact your dentist to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

Twitter Contest Answer: Dental Cleanings


Clean Teeth May Improve Your Brain
By Erica Goodstone, Ph.D.

"New finding. Surprising results. Seeing your dentist regularly may actually help your brain. It seems that periodontal problems, also known as gum disease, may be related to onset of Alzheimer's Disease.

· Do you floss your teeth every night?
· Do you floss your teeth between meals?
· Do you floss your teeth properly?
· Have you seen your dentist lately?
· Do you have any bleeding or soreness in your gums?

Some of us tend to avoid seeing the dentist as regularly as we have been told we should. Some of us avoid flossing our teeth because it can be difficult to get between tightly packed teeth and sometimes the floss can tear in the process. Lately, many of us are struggling with financial deficits, debts and problems. And, there are not many really good dental health plans to alleviate some of the financial burden of having our teeth properly checked.

So, you may have been thinking, "It's only my teeth. If the problem gets severe enough, the dentist will just extract the tooth, and I'll be done with it." If this is the way you've been handling your dental health - or - if you've just been putting off that needed dental appointment to buy some item for your house, to go on a fun vacation, to buy some extra clothes, or for some frivolous fun, think again. At New York University, a team of doctors have recently linked Alzheimer's Disease to periodontal problems, i.e., gum disease. These doctors have found high levels of bacterial infections that elevate inflammatory molecules in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. This current research corroborate earlier research form The University of British Columbia, which revealed high levels of the same bacteria found in periodontal disease within the brains of patients suffering from dementia.

These doctors are not suggesting that just clearing up periodontal problems will immediately heal Alzheimer's Disease. However, the research does suggest that a clean bill of dental health may slow the progression of this debilitating disease. Angela Kamer, Assistant Professor at the NYU College of Dentistry and her research team, compared the brain function of 18 Alzheimer's patients at an early stage of the disease with what is considered "normal brain function." What they discovered is that 72% of the Alzheimer's patients had an antibody associated with periodontal bacteria, whereas only 38% of the normal group had such an antibody.

I am not a dentist and have no affiliation with the field of dentistry. I just found this study to be an alarming wake up call. So - if you've been putting off that dreaded visit to your local dentist or if you've had pain and bleeding gums for awhile and you think that's just because you have more sensitive gums, or some such incorrect assessment - think again. Taking care of your teeth may help to preserve your health in ways that you do not realize, perhaps even beyond this recent research about Alzheimer's."

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