Relationship between intake of green tea and periodontal disease.

BACKGROUND Green tea is a very popular beverage, and in vitro studies have shown that green tea polyphenols inhibit the growth and cellular adherence of periodontal pathogens and their production of virulence factors. We investigated the epidemiologic relationship between the intake of green tea and periodontal disease. METHODS We analyzed 940 Japanese men aged 49 to 59 years as part of a comprehensive health examination. Probing depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (AL), and bleeding on probing (BOP) were used as the periodontal parameters. We examined the relationship between the intake of green tea and periodontal parameters. The intake of green tea was defined as the number of cups per day in a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS The intake of green tea was inversely correlated with the mean PD, mean clinical AL, and BOP. In multivariate linear regression models, every one cup/day increment in green tea intake was associated with a 0.023-mm decrease in the mean PD (P <0.05), a 0.028-mm decrease in the mean clinical AL (P <0.05), and a 0.63% decrease in BOP (P <0.05), after adjusting for other confounding variables. CONCLUSION There was a modest inverse association between the intake of green tea and periodontal disease.