Fight Dementia! With Dental Implant Marketing

Did you know that you can do more with your dental implant marketing than ever before?

Dental implant marketing has primarily targeted seniors that are tired of feeling embarrassed because of their bad or missing teeth. These people want to improve their looks and regain the ability to talk, laugh, and dine without fear.

And this is, of course, a very valid reason for people to choose to get dental implants.

But do the seniors (and others) in your community also know about another very valid reason to choose implants?

Here it is: Edentulism – the state of being edentulous or missing your teeth – is very bad for your health!

The Negative Health Effects of Missing Teeth (Edentulism)

Research has uncovered some fascinating (and terrible) connections between missing teeth and senior health. Here is a list:

1. 1. Higher risk of dementia
   2. Poor self-rated health
   3. Social isolation and depression
   4. Grief over losing natural teeth
   5. Reduced life expectancy
   6. Oral cancer
      
      

Dental Implant Marketing Can Highlight Risk of Cognitive Decline

In this blog post, we’re going to focus on the heightened risk of dementia and cognitive impairment, and in future posts, we will explore the other health connections in more depth.

But all of these are well worth more attention in our dental implant marketing.

Dementia:

Since older adults experience the most oral health problems as well as the most cognitive decline issues, a study done by the NYU set out to discover whether a link existed between the two conditions.

The team used 14 relevant studies that had included questionnaires, medical records, assessments, and death certificate information to identify subjects with either cognitive impairment or dementia. (In total, the studies included 34,074 participants of which 4,689 had either cognitive impairment or dementia.) The studies utilized medical examinations and self-reported records to assign a tooth loss status according to the number of teeth missing.

Here is what they found:

• • Participants with missing teeth had on average a 48% higher risk of cognitive impairment

• • Those with missing teeth had a 28% higher risk of dementia

• • Each lost tooth was associated with a 1.4% increase in cognitive impairment

• • Each lost tooth was also associated with a 1.1% increase in the risk of dementia
    
    

Since the relationship between tooth loss and cognitive decline was “dose-dependent,” this translates into a 31% higher risk of cognitive impairment in those who were missing 20 or more teeth. Those who had lost all of their natural teeth experienced a 54% higher risk of cognitive impairment along with a 40% higher risk of dementia!

Although dentures are a far less permanent solution than implants, the risks were mitigated by either dentures OR dental implants.

This shows us that the real health detriments seems to exist for those who live year after year with missing teeth.

Another smaller Japanese comparative study that specifically excluded patients with dementia still found a link between edentulism and “a significant atrophy of GM … in the hippocampus, caudate nucleus and temporal lobe of the right hemisphere.”¹

These are the areas of the brain related to memory, learning, and cognition and this study concluded that tooth loss was a suggested causal factor for their reduction in volume.

Reasons for Missing Teeth/Health Conditions Connections

The reasons for this association between tooth loss and cognitive decline are unclear. Here are some possible explanations:

1. 1. Problems with chewing that lead to nutritional deficiencies and chemical imbalances
   2. Poor oral hygiene connected to tooth loss could lead to gum disease, with the resulting inflammation increasing the risk of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.
   3. Inability to afford either dentures or dental implants may reflect both lower socio-economic status and educational levels, both of which have been independently linked to a higher risk of dementia.
   4. Poor oral hygiene could result from the onset of cognitive decline, leading to tooth loss.
      
      

The good news is that educating seniors about these risks and the seriousness of poor oral health can lead to earlier interventions and a lowering of the chances of cognitive decline.

Many seniors in your community probably have NO IDEA that the issue of missing teeth is anything beyond a nuisance and an aesthetic liability.

Enter educational dental implant marketing!

Dental Growth Partner To Help You Reach Seniors

Would you like a dental implant growth partner to help you to educate seniors in your community on the dangers of living with missing teeth?

Consider reaching out to Client Connection Group today. Our powerful educational dental implant marketing will alert seniors to the need to seek implant solutions sooner rather than later!

Check out Client Connection Group’s unique program today!

More by Client Connection Group:

Dental Implant Marketing – 3 Steps to Building Powerful Connections With Seniors

4 Reasons Seniors Respond to Positive Dental Implant Marketing