Is nutrition a risk or a protective factor for periodontal disease?

Background and Aim: Nutrition is a widely discussed topic in dentistry. In periodontology have been reported how vitamins, antioxidants (also in fruit) and folic acid could play a protective role from inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate if nutritional habits of periodontal patients could have influenced the severity of their periodontal status and its bacterial load.Methods: Thirty-four periodontal patients that underwent to a full periodontal examination (periodontology division - University of Bologna) and diagnosis with a moderate to severe periodontitis were included in the study. Patients with antibiotic therapy in the last 6 months and pregnant women were excluded. All were questioned about their previous 6 months food habits using the Food FrequencyTest (FFQ). The FFQ was reduced and integrated collecting the following data: body weight and height, waist circumference, smoking, diabetes and vitamins intake. Participants were divided according to the main variable, daily fruit consumption, in two groups of 17 subjects, and compared by a multilevel analysis to the periodontal parameter recovered from the initial exams. FFQ, probing depth (PPD),clinical attachment level (CAL), bleeding on probing (BoP), plaque index (P.I. O'Leary), exudate, microbial site specific real-time PCR test(Biomolecular Diagnostic®) results and percentage of mean bone level were used.Results: The multilevel statistical analysis did not report any significant results regarding food habits, periodontal parameters and microbial charges for both groups. Particularly no statistical differences emerged for PPD, CAL, BoP, and exudate. Even bacterial charges of the periodontal pathogens investigated, with a mean value associated to moderate to severe periodontitis, did not show any statistical difference. Conclusions: Form these results did not emerge any role of nutrition on the periodontal parameters collected, suggesting a marginal role subordinate to more influential variables. Further investigations including healthy, gingivitis and early periodontitis patients are suggested.