While periodontitis may be a common cause of tooth loss, there may be other culprits for these effects besides inflammation. So far Wu's tooth-loss studies have only investigated correlations and not causation, but she wants to investigate the role of nutrition in this relationship, among other factors. "A good denture could improve nutrition intake and also your mastication [chewing]," says Wu. "That can potentially increase blood flow, which might have an impact on cognitive function – but this is still just a hypothesis."
