Research Reveals Dental Relations With Early Death Risks

Gigi illustration (Photo: Freepik/EyeEm)

JAKARTA - A new study found that the speed of a person losing teeth in the elderly could be an important sign related to the risk of death.

This finding confirms how important it is to maintain the health of teeth and mouth, as well as to show tooth loss can be an indicator of more serious health problems.

So far, experts have known about the relationship between the number of teeth and the expectation of life. The less teeth, the higher the chance of dying faster. However, this latest study provides new data on how the speed of tooth loss can affect this relationship.

Reporting from the Science Alert page, researchers from Sichuan University, China studied 8,073 elderly people for an average of 3.5 years. They tracked how quickly participants lost their teeth, then linked them to the death rate.

The results show that the sooner a person loses their teeth, the higher the risk of death, even after taking into account other factors such as gender, age, education level, alcohol drinking habits, and physical activity.

However, the researchers did not say loss of teeth quickly directly caused death. On the other hand, health conditions that cause quickly damaged teeth or dates may also play a role in shortening a person's age.

In other words, loss of teeth can be a sign of deeper health problems.

Good oral health has long been associated with overall body health. Previous studies also found a connection between dental health and decreased brain function (dementia) and heart disease.

Even so, the exact reason why the rate of tooth loss related to the risk of death is still unclear. The researchers suspect that factors such as inflammation, diet, obesity, and psychological stress also affect both of them.

For example, people who lose a lot of teeth tend to have less diverse diets because it is difficult to chew certain foods. As a result, the body lacks important nutrition. In the end, this can worsen health conditions.

Although the mechanism still needs further research, experts emphasize the importance of maintaining the health of teeth and mouth. Diligently brushing your teeth twice a day, routinely checking with dentists, and quitting smoking is a simple step that has proven to help maintain dental health and prolong life.

Routine examinations of dentists also allow monitoring of the number of teeth and immediate treatment if there are teeth missing. For example, edifices or implants. This can be an effective way to assess the general health of the elderly and the potential risk of serious illness.

Meanwhile, the development of dental technology continues. In recent months, researchers have reported progress in the manufacture of synthetic teeth from the laboratory, to clinical trials of drugs that can regrow teeth have disappeared.