Dental Health and Dementia

Even young children learn how important thorough and regular toothbrushing is. However, good oral hygiene contributes not only to sparkling white teeth and fresh breath. There are several scientific studies that have identified insufficient oral hygiene and untreated dental diseases as risk factors for the development of dementia. This is because inflammation in the oral cavity can lead to inflammatory processes in the brain, which in turn can cause a decline in cognitive abilities.

However, there is another connection between dental health and dementia. Not only can poor dental health promote the development of dementia, but conversely, dementia can also lead to poor oral hygiene. As a result, people with dementia often find it difficult to take care of their personal oral hygiene independently due to their illness. 

Prof. Dr. Thomas Kocher is a dentist and was head of Periodontology at the Center for Dental, Oral, and Maxillofacial Medicine at Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald until 2021. To this day, he researches various health effects of dental diseases. In the webinar, he provided insight into the connections between dental health and dementia.

Here is the webinar as a PDF for Download

Tuesday, November 22, 2022, 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM

Are you interested in further webinars on topics from international dementia research? In our Media library Find all past webinars as video recordings.

With the webinar series „Science Watch LIVE,“ we offer an additional service to our monthly newsletter digiDEM Bavaria Science WaOkay, where we provide scientific findings from dementia research.  

Against the backdrop of widespread half-truths and fake news, evidence-based science is in demand. It is more important than ever to communicate scientific findings in a way that is understandable to society and to promote a exchange about them. As the digiDEM Bavaria project team, we want to contribute to this, now also with digiDEM Bavaria Science Watch LIVE.