Fish Oil May Help Prevent Gum Disease

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Niigata, Japan — Fish oil has anti-inflammatory actions that may help prevent periodontal gum disease and improve dental health, found recent study published in the journal Nutrition.

Japanese researchers found low dietary intake of the omega-3 essential fatty acid (EFA) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) exhibited an inverse, independent relationship to the progression of periodontal disease in older people.

Study also discovered fish oil was effective in preventing different types of oral bacteria.

The number of teeth with periodontal progression during the 5 years of the study per person was calculated as “periodontal disease events.”

Longitudinal data were analyzed for participants for whom data were available for 5 years. Low DHA intake from fish oil was significantly associated with more periodontal disease events.

The mean number of periodontal disease events for participants who consumed the lowest tertile of DHA was approximately 1.5 times larger than the reference group (highest tertile of DHA consumption), after simultaneously adjusting for possible confounders.

There are millions of bad bacteria in our mouths that contribute to periodontal disease, the most common dental disease. Japanese researchers illustrated how our diet can be linked to gum disease.