Current periodontal standard-of-care measures are aimed at preventing and controlling periodontitis and establishing or maintaining balanced interactions between microbial factors and the immune-inflammatory host response that are compatible with periodontal health. Although effective in the majority of patients with periodontitis, these interventions have their limitations. They may cause side effects or result in only partial restoration of health, leaving features of biofilm dysbiosis and inflammation.
In addition, research has revealed that in susceptible individuals, periodontal tissue damage is predominantly mediated by the dysregulated host inflammatory response to the subgingival microbial challenge. This leads to an environment that favours inflammation and contributes to the exacerbation of the microbiota imbalance, inflammation, and overt periodontitis.
With the goal of restraining inflammation to control infection, it has been suggested that host-response modulation strategies could be promising adjunctive treatments to conventional periodontal therapy. In fact, the link between diet and oral health has long been acknowledged. In 2011, the EFP’s European Workshop on Periodontology (Perio Workshop) found emerging evidence that the nutritional modulation of periodontal inflammation was one such promising approach.
