Patients with Missing Teeth Might Live Shorter, Study Shows

One of the biggest health issues for people struggling with severe gum disease, is that as the disease progresses, the chance for losing teeth increases.

Gum disease affects severely the tissue surrounding the tooth, which is actually the tissue needed to support the tooth in place. With receding gums over time, the teeth will loosen, and they might easily fall out.

The problem gets even more complicated, as German researchers state that the missing teeth, which are not replaced (with dental implants or dental crowns for example), might easily lead to a shorter lifespan for the patient.

The research was conducted by scientists from the University of Greifswald. Experts have studied closely about 1,083 elderly patients who had less then 20 teeth in their mouth. This is a study which was run over a time span of almost 10 years.

While the study was conducted, 362 of the patients have died. According to the researchers, those patients who had 9 or more missing teeth which were left un-replaced, had a 40% bigger chance of dying right while the study was conducted. Moreover, these patients were also facing an 88% higher risk of dying from heart related complications.

Certainly, the researchers took into account plenty of other health factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, age/sex/marital status, obesity, high cholesterol & high blood pressure and diabetes risk. The researchers state that one of the main reasons why people with un-replaced teeth might die earlier, is because of poor nutrition.

When people miss 10 or more teeth in their mouths, they cannot chew nutritious food, so their system will start lacking important vitamins and minerals, which will lead to problems in the major organs of the body. Details regarding this particular study led by the German researchers can be found published in the International Journal of Cardiology (May 3 issue).

There have been made other similar studies too. For instance, Scottish researchers have proved people who are missing 8 or 9 teeth were much more likely to die of heart complications than people who were missing only 4 or 5 teeth from the mouth.