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Accumulating evidence links hearing loss to impaired cognitive performance and increased risk for dementia. Hearing loss can lead to deafferentation-induced atrophy of frontotemporal brain regions and dysregulation of cognitive control networks from increased listening effort. Hearing loss is also associated with reduced social engagement, loneliness, and depression, which are independently associated with poor cognitive function.We summarize the evidence and postulated mechanisms linking hearing loss to dementia in older adults and synthesize the available literature demonstrating beneficial effects of hearing remediation on brain structure and function.: Further research is needed to evaluate whether treatment of hearing loss may reduce risk of cognitive decline and improve neural consequences of hearing loss. Studies may investigate the pathologic mechanisms linking these late-life disorders and identify individuals vulnerable to dementia, and future clinical trials may evaluate whether hearing treatment may reduce the risk for dementia.Evidence suggests that hearing loss is associated with impaired cognitive performance, increased risk for dementia, and poor brain health in older adults. Fortunately, preliminary studies have shown positive effects of hearing treatment on cognitive outcomes and reversal of adverse neural effects of hearing loss. In the following, we review the available evidence providing support for hearing loss as a modifiable risk factor for dementia. However, there are important limitations to such findings, and further research is needed to definitively evaluate whether hearing treatment may protect cognitive and brain health in older adults. If future studies demonstrate that hearing treatment has beneficial effects on cognitive and neural outcomes, such results may take advantage of the recent widespread efforts to improve access to hearing treatment in the United States.