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Journal of Dental Research

Water fluoride not linked to cognition in older Irish adults

Estimated lifetime exposure was not associated with errors on either thinking test, with an error-rate ratio of 1.00—indicating no association—for each.

Paper by V Sharma, Brian C. O'Connell, Lina Zgaga, +4 more authorsMichael Crowe · Trinity College Dublin · Dublin Dental University Hospital
Figure 1 from Journal of Dental Research
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Figure 1. Sharma et al.

Our read

Populations
Studied:
Cross-sectional study of 2,495 older Irish adults
What changed:
Lifetime fluoride exposure was not linked to thinking-test errors (error-rate ratio 1.00)
The catch:
Health, lifestyle, and social differences could obscure an association despite adjustment
Why it’s aging research:
It measures an outcome that worsens with age.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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Older Irish adults—2,495 people averaging 65.32 years old—were studied in an observational analysis of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. The researchers used 2014–2015 data and linked residential histories with national water monitoring records to estimate lifetime exposure to fluoridated water. Two tests assessed cognition, with more errors indicating poorer performance.

Cumulative lifetime exposure was not associated with errors on either test. People exposed for more than 75% of their lives initially appeared to make fewer errors than those exposed for less than 25%. That association was no longer statistically significant after adjustment for social, lifestyle, health and other factors. There was no statistical evidence that exposure from birth to age five modified the associations.

Why it matters

Cognitive function is an important part of healthy aging. The findings bear on whether lifelong exposure to fluoridated community water is associated with poorer thinking skills in older age.

Caveats

Cognitive scores came from one survey wave, so the analysis did not track changes over time. Differences in health, lifestyle or social circumstances could still have obscured an association despite statistical adjustment.

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