Researchers reveal relationship between plant-based diets, periodontitis

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have recently revealed the link between the quality of plant-based diets and periodontitis, according to a research article published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology.

To date, more than 1 billion people worldwide have suffered from severe periodontitis. Periodontitis is the main cause of tooth loss, and it is also closely related to many systemic diseases.

Researchers from the Southern Medical University Hospital of Stomatology, the Stomatological Hospital of Shandong University and the University of Groningen analyzed cross-sectional data on 5,651 participants above 40 years old from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Food frequency questionnaire data were used to calculate the overall plant-based diet indices, healthy plant-based diet index, and unhealthy plant-based diet index.

The researchers innovatively conducted a hierarchical clustering analysis of serum antibodies against 19 periodontopathogens, thus dividing the participants into a high-antibody group and a low-antibody group. They then used the survey-weighted multivariable logistic regressions for further analysis.

The study results showed that a healthy plant-based diet was inversely related to an increased risk of periodontitis but positively related to elevated antibody levels against periodontopathogens.