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Ng N, Krall Kaye E et al. J Periodontol 2013; DOI: 10.1902/jop.2013.130179

Anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agents appear to have a beneficial effect on health. Coffee is 'the largest source of dietary antioxidants in industrialized nations'. Using existing data collected from 1,152 men in the seminal Veterans Affairs Dental Longitudinal Study, the key findings were 1) coffee consumption is protective for periodontal disease, although this may not be clinically significant, and 2) coffee and caffeine do not exert adverse effects on periodontal health. In this study, repeated measures general linear models and multivariate analysis were used to show that the number of teeth with moderate-to-severe periodontal disease (cumulative number of teeth with PD ≥4 mm or radiographic bone loss of ≥40%) was associated with coffee/caffeine intake (more than six cups of coffee or tea a day). Although caffeine may be associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, it has been shown to reduce inflammation and tissue damage in animal models. Coffee lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes and even gout.