Overview
Diet can influence the body's healing and repair mechanisms. A dietary imbalance obviously cannot trigger periodontal disease in the absence of a primum movens, which is bacterial plaque. However, it can condition its severity and extent by altering the permeability of the oral mucosa, the effectiveness of the immune response and the reparative potential of the gingival tissues.
Nutraceuticals is the science that studies the effects of the so-called food-drug, i.e. those foods that contain substances capable of performing a pharmacological function, modifying the functions of the organism. In particular, some molecules that are assimilated through various foods are able to penetrate the cell nucleus and influence, through an epigenetic mechanism, the expression or otherwise of some genes. The aim of our controlled study is to understand whether a vegetarian/vegan diet can be considered as protective for periodontal health compared to an omnivorous diet. For this purpose, we used a test group of 22 omnivorous subjects and a control group of 22 vegetarian/vegan patients in which experimental gingivitis was induced.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Optimal systemic health conditions
- Non-Smoking
- Absence of cardio-vascular pathologies
- Absence of pulmonary pathologies
- Non-diabetic
- Not pregnant
- FMPS <20%
- FMBS <20%
- Omnivorous or vegan/vegetarian diet for at least a year
- Absence of periodontitis
Exclusion Criteria:
- Smokers
- Presence of systemic pathologies
- Presence of cardio-vascular disease
- Presence of periodontitis
- FMPS>20%
- FMBS>20%
- Pregnant women
- Presence of blood pathologies
- Taking medicines (hydantoins, nifedipine or cyclosporine)
- Taking oral contraceptives
- Bacterial, viral or fungal infections
- Idiopathic gingival fibromatosis
- Mucocutaneous disorders
- Allergic reactions to toothpastes and mouthwashes