{"id":1030,"date":"2013-11-06T18:50:30","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T18:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lakeoconeedentalblog.com\/2013\/11\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:39:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:39:57","slug":"the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lakeoconeedentalblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/GEN_AlzheimersGumDisease_Main.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-646456\" \/><strong>NEARLY ALL OF US EXPERIENCE<\/strong> bleeding gums at some point in our lives. But don\u2019t assume it\u2019s no big deal. Gum disease can have serious consequences including pain, chronic bleeding and tooth loss. It has also been linked to a number of total body health conditions <strong>including Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/strong><h3><strong>Skipping The Floss Can Increase Dementia Risk<\/strong><\/h3><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/health.yahoo.net\/experts\/dayinhealth\/2-minute-habit-may-prevent-alzheimers\" target=\"_blank\">A recent study<\/a><\/strong> of over 5000 retirement community members found that NOT brushing daily could increase the risk of developing dementia up to 65%. Other research <strong>supports the correlation between tooth loss and Alzheimer\u2019s. <\/strong>Some researchers theorize that because tooth loss and sensitivity may contribute to poor eating habits, that also affects brain health. And, Alzheimer\u2019s patients are more likely to neglect their personal dental care. However, even with these other variables removed, there seems to be a strong link.\n<h3><strong>Miles Of Floss<\/strong><\/h3><h3><strong>How Oral Bacteria Hurts Your Brain<\/strong><\/h3>\nWhen you experience gum irritation and bleeding <strong>you essentially have an open wound<\/strong> and bacteria from your mouth can enter the rest of the body through your bloodstream. In one British study, traces of P. gingivalis were found in brain tissue of those afflicted with Alzheimer\u2019s. It may be that the bacteria creates brain inflammation, causing dementia. It could also be that it triggers an immune response <strong>which attacks healthy brain cells<\/strong>.\n<h3><strong>Take Care Of Your Body By Taking Care Of Your Gums<\/strong><\/h3><strong>Taking care of your gum health is an important part of overall health<\/strong>. Follow these steps for a healthy mouth <em>and<\/em> a healthy brain:\n<ol><li><strong>Brush every day.<\/strong><\/li><li><strong><\/strong><strong>Floss every day.<\/strong><\/li><li><strong><\/strong><strong>Don\u2019t postpone your regular cleanings.<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\nDo you have someone you care about who could benefit from this information? Share the message and remind them to floss!\n<h4>Thanks for your trust in our practice. We appreciate you!<\/h4>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<strong>DON\u2019T ASSUME THAT JUST <\/strong>because bleeding gums are common, it\u2019s no big deal... <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/\">(Read More)<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia - Lake Oconee Dental Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia - Lake Oconee Dental Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DON\u2019T ASSUME THAT JUST because bleeding gums are common, it\u2019s no big deal...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lake Oconee Dental Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LakeOconeeDental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-06T18:50:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-26T14:39:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lake Oconee Dental\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lake Oconee Dental\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lake Oconee Dental\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0fb2b54913a1391cb5a442fe8e9647d3\"},\"headline\":\"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-06T18:50:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-26T14:39:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":305,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia - Lake Oconee Dental Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-06T18:50:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-26T14:39:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lake Oconee Dental Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lake Oconee Dental Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/site-log.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/site-log.png\",\"width\":356,\"height\":233,\"caption\":\"Lake Oconee Dental Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/LakeOconeeDental\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/thereallakeoconeedentistry\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/lakeoconeedental\",\"https:\\\/\\\/maps.app.goo.gl\\\/CiP3wibcf8P5fyYs7\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0fb2b54913a1391cb5a442fe8e9647d3\",\"name\":\"Lake Oconee Dental\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c3603475dc0dce8e66950734152c69452fa04980f4dfc3cc55be38a164cb2c82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c3603475dc0dce8e66950734152c69452fa04980f4dfc3cc55be38a164cb2c82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c3603475dc0dce8e66950734152c69452fa04980f4dfc3cc55be38a164cb2c82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lake Oconee Dental\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia - Lake Oconee Dental Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia - Lake Oconee Dental Blog","og_description":"DON\u2019T ASSUME THAT JUST because bleeding gums are common, it\u2019s no big deal...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/","og_site_name":"Lake Oconee Dental Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LakeOconeeDental","article_published_time":"2013-11-06T18:50:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-26T14:39:57+00:00","author":"Lake Oconee Dental","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lake Oconee Dental","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/"},"author":{"name":"Lake Oconee Dental","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0fb2b54913a1391cb5a442fe8e9647d3"},"headline":"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia","datePublished":"2013-11-06T18:50:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-26T14:39:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/"},"wordCount":305,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/","name":"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia - Lake Oconee Dental Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2013-11-06T18:50:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-26T14:39:57+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/the-connection-between-gum-disease-and-dementia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Connection Between Gum Disease And Dementia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/","name":"Lake Oconee Dental Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Lake Oconee Dental Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/site-log.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/site-log.png","width":356,"height":233,"caption":"Lake Oconee Dental Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LakeOconeeDental","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thereallakeoconeedentistry\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/lakeoconeedental","https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/CiP3wibcf8P5fyYs7"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0fb2b54913a1391cb5a442fe8e9647d3","name":"Lake Oconee Dental","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3603475dc0dce8e66950734152c69452fa04980f4dfc3cc55be38a164cb2c82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3603475dc0dce8e66950734152c69452fa04980f4dfc3cc55be38a164cb2c82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c3603475dc0dce8e66950734152c69452fa04980f4dfc3cc55be38a164cb2c82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lake Oconee Dental"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2156,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1030\/revisions\/2156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakeoconeedental.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}