For healthy gums, forget happy hour

Drinking alcoholic beverages might one day be added to the list of risk factors for gum disease. A study of nearly 40,000 male health professionals by researchers at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine found that men who drank alcohol had an 18% to 27% higher risk of periodontitis than men who didn’t.

Every four years for eight years, participants in the ongoing Health Professionals Follow-up Study, who ranged in age from 40 to 75, answered questionnaires that included details about their drinking habits. Every two years, the men reported if they had been newly diagnosed with gum disease serious enough to cause some bone loss.

Past studies had shown a link between alcohol and unhealthy gums, but most of the subjects were heavy drinkers or alcoholics, and none of the studies followed a large group of people over time. About half of the men were low-to-moderate drinkers -- the upper limit of “moderate” being a little more than a glass of wine, a beer or a cocktail each day. Only 11% were considered heavy drinkers.

The researchers were surprised to learn that even low amounts of alcohol increased risk. Although the chances of being diagnosed with gum disease were greater with higher alcohol intakes, the increase wasn’t as much as was expected, says the study’s first author Waranuch Pitiphat, a dentist and doctoral student at the Harvard University Schools of Dental Medicine and Public Health. “Any amount of alcohol raised risk,” she says.

There are several ways which alcohol might contribute to poor gum health. Alcohol is known to impair the infection-fighting ability of white blood cells, Pitiphat said. It may also stimulate absorption of bone and slow new bone growth, and it may directly damage the gums and cause inflammation.

This study was published in the July issue of the Journal of Dental Research.