A cup a day keeps periodontal bone loss away

While coffee may stain your teeth, research from Boston University has found that your morning java can provide some surprising dental health benefits.

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Researchers studied more than 1,000 men for up to 30 years, and found that those who drank at least one cup of coffee per day had less periodontal bone loss. Less acidic than other popular beverages such as soda or juice (which have been shown to weaken tooth enamel), coffee was found to have no association with any markers of periodontal damage. 

Study author Raul Garcia, D.M.D. believes that the antioxidants in the coffee may explain it’s protective nature. “They could be muting the body’s own inflammatory processes that normally would be harmful to the gums and jawbone,” he said.

So, while you may be sporting some unsightly staining from your favorite morning caffeine jolt, at least you’ll be reducing your chance of periodontal disease – certainly good news for all the dedicated coffee drinkers out there.

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The full study ("Coffee Consumption and Periodontal Disease in Males") was published in the August 2014 edition of the Journal of Periodontology.