EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES
EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES A study conducted at the University of Birmingham, England, indicates that adding juice powder concentrates made of fruits and vegetables as a daily supplement may help combat periodontal diseases. The study, published in the Journal
EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES
A study conducted at the University of Birmingham, England, indicates that adding juice powder concentrates made of fruits and vegetables as a daily supplement may help combat periodontal diseases. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology’s October issue, found that when combined with proper nutrition and conventional dental therapy, such phytonutrient-rich supplements may also prove helpful in counteracting chronic conditions. Researchers enlisted 60 subjects, ages 30 and over, to take part in the double-blind study—reportedly the first of its kind—in which patients with long histories of periodontitis were assigned randomly to one of three groups. The first group was given capsules containing a fruit and vegetable powder concentrate. A second group received a powder concentrate of fruit, vegetables, and berries in capsule form. Those in the third group took a placebo. After nonsurgical cleaning and scaling of root surfaces, the subjects were instructed to take their supplement daily.
While the clinical outcomes of all participants improved over two months, significant pocket depth reductions were observed in the groups that took the non-placebo supplements. Additional improvements in the amount of gingival bleeding were seen at the five-month mark, and dental plaque levels dropped over eight months.
“We did see a significant benefit with the fruit and vegetable [capsules] at the 3-month recall, but the level of benefit with the fruit, vegetable, and berry [capsules] was no higher than the fruit and vegetable supplement alone,” states study leader Iain Chapple, PhD, BDS, FDSRCPS, FDSRCS, CCST (Rest Dent), of the Periodontal Research Group at the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry.
While the outcome of the study was encouraging for well-nourished subjects who enjoy high standards of therapy, researchers wondered if the benefits would transfer to all populations. Chapple tells Dimensions of Dental Hygiene that his group “is now conducting a three-center study with Dutch and German teams on untreated periodontal diseases, as this is a more sensitive model for seeing whether phytonutrients can reduce gingival inflammation on their own.”
