[기고] Can lifespan increase by 2% with one ‘happy chewing’ implant?

A missing tooth was associated with a 2% increase in mortality, a 1% increase in myocardial infarction, and a 1.5% increase in kidney failure and stroke. This is the result of a study conducted on 4,44,970 Koreans for an average of 7.56 years since 2007, and was published in an international academic journal. Cardiovascular disease and mortality are proportional to tooth loss, so it is well worth using as a good reference for distinguishing patients with heart disease in clinical practice.

In recent years, even if a tooth is lost, it can be replaced with an implant, making it possible to almost restore the function of a healthy natural tooth. It is different from dentures that keep hurting the gums while the chewing force is only 20-30% of what it used to be. Dentures are free from pain and chronic periodontitis, so you can get some relief by saying, ‘It’s refreshing to have a tooth that was sick’. However, dentures can lead to more fatal consequences as they can’t chew hard food, leaving the muscles, blood flow, and stimulation to the brain to decline for a long time. On the other hand, the high cost of implants is a problem, but it is good because you can eat food freely through the fixed prosthesis, and the pronunciation becomes more accurate when speaking. I am happy to be able to sing to my heart’s content, and I can enjoy my social life that has been restricted in the past. You can even shrug your shoulders when you hear that the wrinkles on your face are reduced and your skin is more elastic, giving you a very youthful look.

When food is chewed, △saliva is produced, which aids in digestion (increased peroxidase), △acts as an antioxidant to prevent various diseases related to the stomach, and △chews food itself is a very good exercise and stimulation that stimulates the brain. It is known to increase blood flow to the brain, increase the amount of oxygen in the brain, and enhance memory. As a result, it helps to prevent systemic diseases including dementia. In fact, in Japan, elderly people with 9 or fewer teeth were 81% more likely to develop dementia than those who actively chewed food with 20 or more teeth. In addition, cerebral blood flow significantly increased in those who ate a normal diet with implant prostheses than those who used dentures.

As a result, chewing food increases cerebral blood flow and activates the brain to improve cognitive function. Parotin, secreted by the salivary glands (parotid gland) when chewing food, increases the elasticity of blood vessels and activates white blood cell function to improve brain blood circulation, and nerve growth factor, which repairs nerve cells and restores cranial nerve function, is also secreted, leading to brain aging. known to prevent

In the end, if you don’t chew properly because you don’t have teeth, the amount of saliva secretion decreases, and as a result, the brain growth factor decreases and the brain ages. Conversely, chewing well and producing a lot of saliva in the mouth can slow aging and reduce the risk of dementia. Low saliva provides a decisive cause for the growth of bacteria in the oral cavity, which greatly affects blood vessel health.

Bacteria in the mouth travel through the bloodstream through peripheral blood vessels, forming blood clots in the heart or brain, narrowing the blood vessels, and damaging the walls of blood vessels can cause heart disease or stroke. Because of this, it is known that periodontitis patients are two to three times more at risk of vascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis, stroke, and heart disease.

Nitric oxide is an anti-aging substance that relaxes blood vessels, regulates blood pressure, and improves immunity. Since nitric oxide materials that have been circulating in blood vessels are filtered by the salivary glands and returned to the mouth, the concentration of nitric oxide in saliva is more than 20 times higher than that of blood. Therefore, if you chew tightly for a long time, a lot of nitric oxide materials in the saliva will pour out along with the saliva, which can lead to a synergistic effect of health and longevity.

Then, what would be the result if ‘tooth’ was replaced with ‘implant’ in the thesis result of ‘If one tooth is missing, lifespan is shortened by 2%’. Can two implants, which are currently covered by medical insurance for people over the age of 65, have a lifespan extension effect of 4%? It is expected that if you can chew and eat as much as you would in your 20s once more with implant surgery, your cognitive function as well as various net functions will be improved, and it is expected that it will be revealed soon how far it can push dementia away.

Dr. Jong-Jin Kwon, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, graduated from the Seoul National University School of Dentistry, and served as a professor at Korea University School of Medicine, dean of Korea University’s Graduate School of Clinical Dentistry, and head of Korea University’s Implant Research Institute. He also served as a visiting professor at Tokyo University of Medicine and Dentistry in Japan and Harvard Dental University in the United States.

[권종진 닥터권치과 원장·고려대 명예교수]
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