Can coffee help prevent gum disease? That's the question put to test in a study done by the Boston University School of Dental Medicine. Coffee has antioxidants and antioxidants fight gum disease, so researchers wanted to find out if coffee could therefore fight gum disease!
What they found was that "coffee consumption did not have an adverse effect on periodontal health and, instead, may have protective effects against periodontal disease." Coffee consumption was associated with a small (but significant) reduction in the number of teeth with periodontal bone loss, leading to the conclusion that coffee consumption may help protect teeth against periodontal bone loss.
The research team collected data from 1,152 men in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Dental Longitudinal Study(DLS) during trienniel dental visits between 1968 and 1998. The DLS worked with males ages 26 to 84 at the beginning of the study. The information from the study was self-reported by the participants, and the controlled risk factors included alcohol consumption, body mass index, smoking, dental care, education and diabetes status. Lead author Nathan Ng says "this is the first long-term study of its kind that has investigated the association between coffee consumption and periodontal disease."
We all know coffee stains your teeth, but these findings might make you feel a little bit better about your daily cup!
