Waco TX Dentist Explains the Importance of Your Teeth
How would your life change if you lost your teeth? The answer is a long one. So many aspects of your life would be different. You would find speech much more difficult, and you would have to alter your diet to compensate for your diminished ability to break down food. This change in your diet might take its toll on your health if you weren’t careful to consume a balanced diet. You would also likely experience a loss of self-esteem, as your smile would be devastated and you face would lack support, causing it to collapse into a more aged appearance. As it turns out, however, these numerous struggles do not comprise all of the difficulties that tooth loss can create. Researchers continue to discover new links between an unhealthy mouth and other health problems, and a recent study has discovered a link between cognitive decline and tooth loss. Your Waco TX dentist, Dr. Corbet Locke, discusses the results of this study below. Tooth Loss and Mental Health The study in question reveals the results of memory and thinking tests that were administered to almost 6,000 male and female participants, each of whom had experienced some degree of tooth loss. The results, as it turns out, stratified according to the number of teeth that had been lost, with people who had lost numerous teeth scoring the worst on the tests and people who had lost only a few teeth scoring the best. The results, then, seem to indicate a direct relationship between tooth loss and declining cognitive abilities. The study, however, does not go so far as to suggest that tooth loss results in deteriorating mental health, but instead offers numerous hypotheses to account for the results. These hypotheses include everything from poor diets to genetic predispositions to both conditions, and further research will be required before a leading theory emerges. In the meantime, however, we all may want to approach our oral health regimens with renewed vigor.
About Dr. Corbet Locke: Dr. Corbet C. Locke III, DDS is an experienced and respected dentist serving patients in the Waco TX area. Patients can contact him at 254-776-4888 to schedule an appointment or a consultation.