ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2026
Oral health conditions and domain-specific cognitive decline in older adults: evidence from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging 2005-2024.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Oral Health Status, Knowledge, Hygiene Behavior and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults in Shanghai, China.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
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6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundWhile associations between poor oral health and cognitive impairment are documented, research on how different oral health conditions relate to specific cognitive measures remains limited.
methodsUsing data from 756 Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging 2005-2024 participants (mean age = 72.0 years, 52.5% women, 24.2% Black), we investigated the association between the first oral health assessment and subsequent cognitive decline across domains in older adults aged 60+ who were free of cognitive impairment at baseline over an average of 7.7 follow-up. Cognitive function was assessed across language, executive function, attention, memory, and visuospatial ability domains, with domain-specific composite scores calculated using various cognitive tests. Oral health was evaluated for clinically-assessed tooth loss and dental plaque, alongside self-reported periodontal symptoms. Linear mixed-effect models were used to examine the longitudinal associations with cognitive decline, adjusted for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.
resultsAfter covariates adjustment, more tooth loss was associated with greater declines across all cognitive domains, including language (β = -0.0017; 95% CI = -0.0025, -0.0008), executive function (β = -0.0011; 95% CI = -0.0019, -0.0002), attention (β = -0.0011; 95% CI = -0.0021, -0.0001), memory (β = -0.0018; 95% CI = -0.0030, -0.0005), and visuospatial ability (β = -0.0017; 95% CI = -0.0029, -0.0006). Dental plaque was associated with executive function (β = -0.0165; 95% CI = -0.0276, -0.0054) and memory (β = -0.0279; 95% CI = -0.0444, -0.0115) declines. Presence of periodontal symptoms was only associated with executive function decline (β = -0.0004; 95% CI = -0.0007, -0.0001).
conclusionsTooth loss may indicate broader cognitive decline, while other oral health conditions, such as plaque and periodontal symptoms, particularly affect memory or executive function. Future studies are warranted to investigate underlying mechanisms.
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