Severe Periodontitis Increases Alzheimer's Risk by Nearly 7 Times, claims research

Written by Dr. Shravani Dali Published On 2025-02-06T20:30:42+05:30 | Updated On 6 Feb 2025 8:31 PM IST

Severe Periodontitis Increases Alzheimers Risk by Nearly 7 Times, claims research

Researchers have found in a recent meta-analysis that there was a strong link between periodontitis and dementia, particularly in severe cases. The findings of the study have appeared in the Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice. The study revealed that Severe periodontitis was associated with a 6.87-fold higher risk of Alzheimer's disease. Further, it also increased the risk of dementia by 2.85 times and cognitive impairment by 2.92 times. Mild periodontitis, however, showed no significant correlation with dementia.

These findings highlight the importance of oral health in reducing the risk of cognitive decline. The association between periodontitis and dementia remains controversial. Therefore, they analyzed this association focusing on the severity of periodontitis and type of dementia. They searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and gray literature (OpenGrey, ProQuest) databases from inception to June 30, 2021, and pooled the data for meta-analysis. Fixed- or random-effects models were employed to calculate odds ratios (ORs), hazard ratios (HRs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate the strength of the associations between periodontitis and dementia. Results: Thirteen case-control and 11 cohort studies were selected. The analysis of entire studies indicated an association between periodontitis and dementia, with an OR of 2.26 and HR of 1.15. According to periodontitis severity, the risk of dementia was significantly associated with severe periodontitis, but not with less-than-moderate periodontitis. In particular, patients with severe periodontitis had a 6.87-fold higher risk of Alzheimer's dementia and 2.92-fold higher risk of cognitive impairment. They found a strong association between periodontitis and dementia, with severe periodontitis identified as a potential risk factor for Alzheimer's dementia. Therefore, timely management of periodontitis to prevent its progression may help prevent dementia.

Reference:

Kim, D.-H., & Han, G.-S. (2025). Periodontitis as a risk factor for dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice, In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebdp.2025.102094

Keywords:

Severe, Periodontitis, Increases, Alzheimer's, Risk, Nearly, 7 Times,

Kim, D.-H., & Han, G.-S

Dr. Shravani Dali

Dr. Shravani Dali has completed her BDS from Pravara institute of medical sciences, loni. Following which she extensively worked in the healthcare sector for 2+ years. She has been actively involved in writing blogs in field of health and wellness. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of public health-health administration from Tata institute of social sciences. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.