Flavonoid Intake and Periodontal Healing Outcomes Following Sanative Therapy

Abstract

Diet has an important role in the maintenance of oral health. Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease of the soft and hard tissues that support our teeth. Sanative therapy (ST) offers a first-line, cost-effective treatment for periodontal disease. Although ST improved clinical healing outcomes from baseline, it may not completely resolve inflammation associated with periodontal disease. Due to the high flavonoid content in tea and the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of flavonoids, it was hypothesized that participants with higher daily intakes of tea and flavonoids would have improved healing outcomes, designated as greater reductions in probing depth (PD) ≥ 4 mm and salivary biomarker concentration levels (C-reactive protein, interleukin 1-beta, and interleukin-6) eight weeks after ST. The relationship between tea consumption or flavonoid intake and clinical outcomes following sanative therapy (ST) has not been investigated. Participants completed the 2014 Block food frequency questionnaire prior to ST and provided saliva samples via passive drool immediately prior to ST and eight weeks following ST. There were no significant associations between flavonoid intake and tea consumption with periodontal outcomes (percentage of PD sites post-ST ≥ 4 mm) or change in salivary biomarker concentrations pre- and post-ST. Although, salivary concentrations of IL-1ß were significantly lower post-ST (p < 0.05). Therefore, our results suggest that among our sample, no relationship exists between tea or flavonoid intake and clinical healing outcomes after ST.