Red Wine Linked to Oral Hygiene Benefits

ABC (Australia) offers an additional piece of red wine related news that we can really sink our teeth into.

In a study performed by scientists in Italy and published in the journal Food Chemistry, red wine consumption has been linked to the control of oral bacteria. Drinking red wine before and following a meal is shown to achieve a reduced risk for the development of cavities, ABC reports. Surprisingly, the bacteria eradication had nothing to do with alcohol content. Nonalcoholic red wine was found to be every bit as beneficial in stripping the mouth of the bacteria that, if unchecked, can lead to tooth decay.

The chemistry of note in the linkage between red wine and oral hygiene are proanthocyanidins, one of the several types of flavonoid compounds that have attracted scientific and medical interest in wine, dark chocolate and green tea. Proanthocyanidins were already understood to have antioxidation properties, but the mechanisms for improved oral health remain unclear. Because other compounds within red wine, primarily acids and sugars, are very tough on the teeth, additional study will be required to get a sense for how the benefits measure up to the drawbacks.

Tangentially, another red wine and oral hygiene study taking place in Quebec, Canada, indicates that red wine's polyphenols may be linked to the control of the inflammatory response to bacterial infection in the gums. ABC reports that the Canadian researchers who presented their findings at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research find that the polyphenols in red wine may serve to both prevent and to treat periodontis and gum disease.

Photo courtesy of Tammy Green, via Wikimedia Commons