NIIGATA, Japan—Fish oil may ward off dental disease, according to a recent study published in the journal Nutrition (2010 Jan 22). 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.
Fifty-five community-dwelling elderly participants aged 74 years were randomly selected from a longitudinal interdisciplinary study of aging. Dietary intake data were obtained by a 3-day weighed food intake. The dietary intakes of energy, DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (another omega 3 EFA found in fish oil) were calculated based on the Standard Food Composition Tables in Japan. Dental examinations were carried out at baseline and once a year for 5 years. The number of teeth with periodontal progression during the 5 years per person was calculated as “periodontal disease events.” Longitudinal data were analyzed for participants for whom data were available for 5 years (n=36).
Low DHA intake 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 (lowest tertile, incidence rate ratio 1.49, 95 percent confidence interval 1.01 to 2.21) than the reference group (highest tertile of DHA consumption), after simultaneously adjusting for possible confounders.