Best Food for Periodontal Disease and Gingivitis

What would happen if you stopped brushing your teeth but ate healthier?

It should come as no surprise that a healthy foods can benefit all parts of the body, but I still love to see the data!

More on dental and oral health:

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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[AlexPotts]

You had the perfect opportunity to say, “A tomato a day keeps the Dentist away”. You blew it! Re-do the video.

[leftyfourguns]

The tomato data is interesting because tomatoes can be quite acidic and you'd expect them to have a damaging effect on your teeth. It would seem that dental health is just as complex as gut health

[iCristalrose]

Hence once again it’s a WHOLE food plant based diet, not a ‘half’ food plant based.

[veganninja]

This is very helpful since I just got diagnosed with Periodontal Disease.

[PiusJungblut]

Great video as always! As a dental student, i really appreciate the nutritional focus on oral health :) I would just like to mention that the improvement you indicate with the arrows on the picture is calculus, before and after mechanical removal. The systemic improvement is shown in the colour of the gingiva.

[jefflebowski]

Green tea is also good for dental hygiene.

[edenicchristian]

I have always had this underlying suspicion that perhaps tartar and plaque was actually intended to protect us, but just the sheer amount of unhealthy things we eat it cannot keep up.

[Nellykir]

This is so true. I found out that I have a sensitivity to tomatoes (bloodtest) and excluded them from my diet to see my body's response. Boy, did my gums suffer! ...constantly inflamed and bleeding, until I reintroduced tomatoes back into my diet.

[turbonbc]

You could also eat watermelon if you don't like tomato has almost double the lycopene and especially because its a refreshing fruit you can eat far more than you can tomato's.
100g tomato 37% RDA
100g watermelon 65% RDA
100g guava 74% RDA of course the highest are tomato paste/concentrate/powder and sun-dried but again you can only eat so much of those, watermelon is far better option overall IMO.

[J_Lag]

So can I swap the fluoride paste for tomato paste?

[smallfootprint]

Really interesting. I've read, elsewhere, that if you just add a tablespoon or so, of tomato paste to your soup or other food, a day, that it's a real miracle food. I try to do that. Never thought about my teeth or gums, though. They do seem to be doing well. My dental visits are really good. I also like fresh tomatoes on my salad, etc. Hmmm.

[natureasintended]

Haha, but you also mentioned that 1 in 20 people reduced their joint pain when they eliminated tomatoes. I am vegan on a diet including rice, veggies, tofu, lentils, potatoes and fruits, but I still had joint pain with tomatoes. I'll stick with berries and plenty of lemon juice (as a condiment squeezed over meals) from ripe lemons.

[MianShahmir-uo]

Hello, thank you for the informative video. I just have one question: How to pick a mouthwash that only kills the bad oral bacteria and doesn't harm the good bacteria while keeping the gums healthy? I'm confused

[dreamscape]

This came as a great time! My dentist said I need about $3, 300.00 worth of dental work mainly due to my periodontal disease. Looks like I'm eating more berries...and tomato paste on avocado toast with pizza seasoning! 🍕 🍅 🍓🍒🍇🍎🍏

[jacbox]

Eating a plant based diet and avoiding processed foods should give you all the antioxidants
needed for healthy gums.

[sungheelee]

Thank you, Dr. Greger! You are the best!👍👍💗

[Massimo-snxd]

Also, honey is sweet yes, but it's not processed sugar, it's natural, so there's that...

[Gigi-zz]

Sounds like we can all keep some tomato paste in the refrigerator and eat a couple tablespoons a day along with fresh tomatoes! Sounds yummy to me!

[TheBerkeleyBeauty]

Looks like the gums receded a bit tho. That’s not good, is it?

[eelkeaptroot]

Could the positive effects of not brushing also be caused by the absence of sodium Laural sulfate, I think I recall you mentioning in a previous episode that this chemical is highly irritating to tissues?