Many people like coffee and as a dentist it can be difficult to say whether or not drinking a cup of java will help or hurt your teeth – until now. Researchers at the University of Boston wanted to find out if there were any oral health benefits to drinking coffee or if it could lead to periodontal disease. Understanding that antioxidants fight gum disease and coffee contains antioxidants made the question even more intriguing.
In order to find the answer, researchers reviewed data that had been collected by the Department of Veteran Affairs over the course of thirty years. During this time, they observed and documented the oral health of over 1,100 men in the Boston area. The study included results from tests and exams along with information on food consumption. Since coffee was included in the study, researchers were able to break the subjects into two groups – those that drank a cup of coffee or more every day and those that did not. Based on dental exams, participants that drank coffee regularly had fewer teeth with bones loss than those who did not. Since bone loss is a common sign of gum disease, researchers have concluded that drinking coffee is good for the health of your gums.
The logic behind this conclusion is that the caffeine and antioxidants in coffee may prevent gums from becoming swollen or reduce the swelling if they do. As a dentist, swollen gums are typically the first sign of gum disease so addressing it at this phase is important. This information could also benefit diabetics since they are at an increased risk for gum disease due to restricted blood flow. Pregnant women, smokers, and those that use chewing tobacco are also at a greater risk for gum disease so coffee could be a way to help reduce their risk.
Researchers also wanted to know if drinking coffee had any negative effects on oral health. “We found that coffee consumption did not have an adverse effect on periodontal health, and, instead, may have protective effects against periodontal disease,” said Nathan Ng, lead author of the study. This is contrary to what popular belief has been that coffee can lead to gum disease. Research shows no direct negative health consequences though as a dentist we do recommend that people brush and floss throughout the day since the sugar and cream in coffee could create a risk for cavities. The only downfall of black coffee is that it will probably stain your teeth and make them appear yellow, something we can correct with a teeth whitening procedure.
This is the first study of its kind, and we are curious to know if drinking coffee has a similar impact on gum health in women and if drinking tea would have the same benefits as coffee. Additional research needs to be done to find out but in the meantime we can safely recommend adding a cup of coffee to an existing oral health routine.
