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ISC 2026 | Relationship between oral care habits and the risk of dementia: insights from the ARIC study

Souvik Sen, MD, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, discusses the relationship between oral care habits and the risk of dementia, sharing insights from the ARIC study. He highlights that the study found a 10% reduction in incident dementia among individuals who flossed regularly. This interview took place at the 2026 International Stroke Congress (ISC), held in New Orleans, LA.

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Transcript

This is also a very interesting study we presented, and this is the first time I think somebody’s presenting on oral care habits. How can you reduce the chances of dementia? Also from the ARIC study, in the visit three, they were asked, do you floss regularly? Do you brush regularly? Do you go to the dentist regularly? And then we followed them for about 25 years. And what we found in that study was there was a significant, about 10% reduction of incident dementia...

This is also a very interesting study we presented, and this is the first time I think somebody’s presenting on oral care habits. How can you reduce the chances of dementia? Also from the ARIC study, in the visit three, they were asked, do you floss regularly? Do you brush regularly? Do you go to the dentist regularly? And then we followed them for about 25 years. And what we found in that study was there was a significant, about 10% reduction of incident dementia. And then we used that number to calculate how many of them would really benefit from flossing. So if somebody flossed regularly, which is once or more times in a week, they had a 10% reduction. That is, we translated that to something called a number needed to floss. Every 14% who flossed, we prevented one dementia. And I think that’s huge because it’s such a simple public health measure to reduce the chance of oral infection, gum disease, and caries.

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