Alzheimer's & DementiaNov 2, 2026, 10:14 GMT

Blood markers account for a small part of tooth loss–dementia link

In 4,238 US adults aged 50 and older, two blood markers statistically accounted for 9.8% and 12.0% of the tooth loss–dementia association.

Paper by Xiang Qi, Ruotong Mona Liu, Daniel W. Belsky, +5Bei Wu · New York University

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Studied:: Cohort study of 4,238 people (10 years)
In the record:: The 172nd paper on GFAP with results in people; 629 on record in all.
Why it’s aging research:: It bears on staying healthy in midlife and later life.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper

Among 4,238 US Health and Retirement Study participants aged 50 and older, researchers examined complete tooth loss and declining memory and thinking. The observational cohort analysis linked self-reported tooth loss in 2012, blood measurements in 2016 and cognitive assessments through 2022.

Compared with retaining at least one natural tooth, complete tooth loss was associated with higher dementia risk over 10 years after adjustment for measured differences between participants (hazard ratio 1.28, a relative measure). Complete tooth loss was also linked to higher levels of two blood proteins used as markers of brain degeneration. In the statistical mediation analysis, neurofilament light chain accounted for 9.8% of the tooth loss–dementia association. Glial fibrillary acidic protein accounted for 12.0%.

Why it matters

For dementia prevention, the authors said these findings support further study of oral health.

Caveats

This observational analysis cannot establish causation, and some dementia cases occurred before or at blood collection. When researchers restricted follow-up to after blood collection in 2016, the dementia association was no longer statistically clear: the range of likely values included no difference.