Poor periodontal health and tooth loss may increase the risk for cognitive decline and dementia, new research suggests.

Results from a review of 47 studies showed that having periodontitis, tooth loss, deep periodontal pockets, or alveolar bone loss was associated with a 23% higher risk for cognitive decline and a 21% higher risk for dementia.

In addition, tooth loss alone independently increased the risk for cognitive decline and dementia by 23% and 13%, respectively. However, the overall quality of the evidence was low, the researchers note.

“A key point is that poor periodontal health is a modifiable risk factor; it can be addressed through self-care measures and regular use of basic oral health services, which may lower dementia risk to some extent ― although currently, we cannot say for sure how much,” lead author Sam Asher, MPH, Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, told Medscape Medical News.

The findings were published online September 6 in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.