Association between Four Dietary Patterns and the Risk of Periodontal Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Several dietary patterns are reported as risk factors for several chronic diseases including oral diseases. However, thus far, there has been no comprehensive quantitative analysis of nutrition and periodontal diseases.

This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. Cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies were eligible for inclusion in this study. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to qualitatively assess the risk of bias in the included studies. The number of samples was used for odds ratio calculation, followed by the unadjusted value and 95% confidence interval.

Nine papers were included for the systematic review and meta-analysis. The results of screening for database search records showed that four diet patterns (western diet, dairy product intake, sugar intake, and vitamin C intake) have enough data for meta-analysis. The risk of periodontal disease in the western-diet group and the lowest dairy product intake group was 1.05 (0.51-2.13) and 1.28 (0.89-1.84), respectively. The risk of periodontal disease in the highest sugar intake group and the lowest vitamin C intake group was 1.52 (0.79-2.91) and 1.15 (1.08-1.23), respectively.

With aging of the population globally, the prevalence of periodontal disease increases, and the associated cost also increases. Though this study, we found foods related to the risk of periodontal disease, and we are confident that it will contribute to lowering the incidence of the disease.