Researchers have uncovered that older people that are socially isolated are more likely to have missing teeth.
Social isolation and loneliness recently have been major public health concerns worldwide, which can develop into mental health disorders, cardiac disease and cognitive decline.
The lead author of the research, Xiang Qi, studied the relationship between social isolation, loneliness and tooth loss.
The data used analysed and surveyed data from 4,268 adults aged 65+.
Researchers discovered that higher levels of social isolation were connected to people who had either few teeth or were losing teeth.
The older adults who were socially isolated have 2.1 fewer natural teeth and 1.4 times the rate of losing their teeth.
The study showed that the older adults with missing teeth tended to be less engaged in social or health-promoting behaviours like physical activity, thus affecting their overall general and mental health.
“Socially isolated older adults tend to be less engaged in social and health-promoting behaviours like physical activity, which could have a negative impact on their overall functioning and oral hygiene, as well as increase their risk for systemic inflammation,” said Wu. “This functional impairment seems to be a major pathway linking social isolation to tooth loss.”
The findings are published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.
Dissatisfaction with dental appearance is a strong indicator of low self-esteem.
Dental disorders like traumatic tooth loss have a profound impact on aesthetics and psychosocial behaviour that affects self-esteem.
Not only does your smile affect how you feel about yourself, but how other people respond, think and behave around you too.
For example, it’s proven that a friendly, healthy smile makes people appear confident and allows others to feel more comfortable and warmer around you too.
Learn more about the other consequences of missing teeth here.
As restorative experts, we would encourage patients to explore dental implants as a priority in the case of missing teeth.
Tooth implants not only restore your tooth’s look and function, but they improve oral health and prevent critical bone loss in the jaw.
Implants are a long-lasting, permanent solution to close gaps in the mouth for good. Our implant clinic has a 98.3% success rate on our implantations, and our patients have commented that their quality of life has improved dramatically.
Read some of our reviews to discover exactly how yourself:
The Gentle Dental is an implant practice based in East Molesey.
Every day we see the impacts that missing teeth have on our patients, and we see how relieved they are once their final restoration has been made.
As implant experts, we offer various implant solutions that suit multiple budgets and types of tooth loss.
For patients not wishing to explore implant options, we also have various non-implant solutions available, too – but it all starts with a consultation to see what the best outcome will be for you.
“It feels like an absolute blessing to be able to chew food again ‘properly’. I am so thankful…
