It seems that losing several teeth does not only affect a person’s ability to chew a piece of meat, but a Japanese study indicates that there is more to it than that.
After their teeth were extracted, the animals studied suffered from memory problems.
Their brains showed signs of stress and stress-related changes in areas responsible for memory and learning. Moreover, this occurred even when the mice received a balanced, protein-rich diet, suggesting that tooth loss itself, and not malnutrition alone, may affect the brain.
Does losing teeth cause memory loss?
Scientists from Hiroshima University followed elderly mice for 6 months after removing their upper molars from both sides.
According to the “Study Finds” website, they wanted to know if tooth loss leads to brain problems due to difficulty eating later, or if there is another reason.
The results were surprising, as mice who lost their teeth performed worse on memory tests, whether they ate a balanced or low-protein diet.
When the researchers examined brain tissue, they found higher levels of molecules associated with cell death, an increase in inflammation markers, and a decrease in the number of nerve cells in key memory areas.
That is, brain tissue showed signs of stress in memory centers. The hippocampus, responsible for memory formation, showed an increase in inflammation markers and a decrease in the number of nerve cells in the groups of mice that had lost their teeth.
Diet alone did not explain the brain changes.
Mice who lost their teeth showed these brain changes whether they ate a diet rich in protein or poor in protein, suggesting that tooth loss affects the brain via a direct pathway and not only through nutritional problems.
The significance of these results on humans remains unknown. This study was limited to mice only, and did not measure whether similar processes occur in human brains, although the results may direct researchers towards new questions about oral “health” and aging.
