NEW YORK - A new study shows that good oral care with brushing and flossing and regular visits to the dentist, help adults maintain their cognitive abilities intact during aging.

The authors found that over 60 years with the highest levels of pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, which causes gingivitis, were three times more likely to have trouble remembering a string of three words after a pause.

The team of Dr. James M. Noble College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia, also found that adults with higher levels of the pathogen were twice as likely not to solve three-digit subtraction.

The findings, published this month in Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, come from more than 2,300 men and women, which examined for periodontitis and who responded several tests of cognitive skills between 1991 and 1994.

The 5.7 percent of adults could not perform certain tests of memory and 6.5 percent failed to reverse subtraction.

Participants with the highest levels of the pathogen (more than 119 units) compared with those with the lowest amounts (57 units or less) were more likely to have poor performance on these tests.

Studies had shown a strong association between poor oral health and heart disease, stroke, diabetes and Alzheimer's.

Periodontitis alter brain function through various mechanisms, the researchers said. For example, can cause inflammation throughout the body, which is a risk factor for deterioration of cognitive function.

In an editorial, Dr. Robert Stewart, King's College London said the study adds to a growing body of evidence linking oral health and dental with cognitive function.