Differences in Brain Volume by Tooth Loss and Cognitive Function in Older Japanese Adults

Abstract

BackgroundWe investigated the association between tooth loss and structural brain volume and its mediating effect on the association between tooth loss and cognitive function in older Japanese. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted by using the data of 494 randomly sampled community-dwelling individuals aged 65–84 years living in Tokamachi City, Japan. Total brain volume (TBV), gray matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), and hippocampal volume (HV) were measured with magnetic resonance imaging. The association of self-reported number of teeth (≥20, 1–19, and 0) with cognitive function assessed with the Japanese version of the Quick Mild Cognitive Impairment screen and structural brain volume was examined. Causal mediation analysis was performed to evaluate the mediating effect of structural brain volume. Age, sex, socioeconomic status, health behavior, comorbid conditions, and total intracranial volume were adjusted. ResultsRespondents with no teeth showed lower cognitive function (coefficient = −4.01; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −7.19, −0.82), lower TBV (coefficient = −10.34; 95% CI: −22.84, 2.17), and lower GMV (coefficient = −6.92; 95% CI: −14.84, 0.99) than those with ≥20 teeth (P for trends were 0.003, 0.035, and 0.047, respectively). The number of teeth was not significantly associated with WMV or HV. GMV showed a significant mediating effect on the association between the number of teeth and cognitive function (coefficient = −0.38; 95% CI: −1.14, −0.002, corresponding to 9.0% of the total effect), whereas TBV did not. ConclusionsGMV was suggested to mediate the relationship between tooth loss and lower cognitive function.