http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11222092%255E29677
,00.html

Pulled teeth linked to memory loss
AFP
October 29, 2004
STOCKHOLM: When your dentist pulls an aching tooth he could be yanking out
some of your memory at the same time, according to a new Swedish study to be
presented in Stockholm on Friday.

"Teeth appear to be of the utmost importance to our memories," Jan Bergdahl,
an associate psychology professor at the Umeaa University in northern
Sweden, a dentist and one of the authors of the study, told AFP on Thursday.

For the study, which is part of a broader memory study called Betulastudien,
researchers followed 1,962 people aged 35 to 90 starting in 1988, comparing
the memories of those who still had teeth and those who had pulled all their
teeth and were using dentures.

"When people have no teeth their memories are clearly worse than when they
have teeth," Bergdahl said.

Recent Japanese studies on rats and monkeys have shown the link between
teeth and memory but according to Bergdahl this is the first large-scale
study on humans that clearly connects the same dots.

While the Swedish research has yet to unveil what impact pulling a single
tooth has on the human memory, Bergdahl said that "going forward, we plan to
look into how many teeth a person has to lose before it affects their
memory. We will also investigate how tooth decay affects memory loss, and
what affect tooth implants have".

He insisted however that he didn't expect future studies to reveal that
implants improve memory.

"I don't think that is very probable. Animal tests have shown that pulling
teeth severs nerves to the brain," Bergdahl said, pointing out that the new
Swedish study could dramatically change dental care for the elderly in the
future.

"We might want to think twice before pulling out teeth that are a problem,"
he said.
AFP