According to preliminary research to be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2023, taking care of your teeth and gums may have benefits beyond oral health, such as increasing brain function. The meeting, which will be held in person and electronically in Dallas from February 8 to 10, 2023, is the world’s leading forum for stroke and brain health researchers and physicians. Studies have shown that gum disease, missing teeth and other signs of poor oral health, as well as poor brushing habits and lack of plaque removal, increase stroke risk. According to the American Stroke Association, stroke is the number 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. Previous research has also found that gum disease and other oral health concerns are linked to heart disease risk factors and other conditions like high blood pressure. “What hasn’t been clear is whether poor oral health affected brain health, meaning the functional status of a person’s brain, which we are now able to understand better using neuroimaging tools such as magnetic resonance imaging or MRI,” said study author Cyprien Rivier, M.D., M.S., a postdoctoral fellow in neurology at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. “Studying oral health is especially important because poor oral health happens frequently and is an easily modifiable risk factor – everyone can effectively improve their oral health with minimal time and financial investment.” Just as healthy lifestyle choices impact the risk of heart disease and stroke, they also affect brain health, which includes one’s ability to remember things, think clearly and function in life. Three in five people in the U.S. will develop brain disease in their lifetime, according to latest estimates from the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association. Between 2014 and 2021, researchers in this study analyzed the potential link between oral he