Periodontitis is an inflammatory gum disease driven by bacterial infection and left untreated it can lead to complications including tooth loss. The disease has also been associated with diabetes, preterm birth, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. One of the chief bacterial culprits behind periodontitis is the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Matcha, a finely ground green tea powder, may help keep P. gingivalis at bay. In Microbiology Spectrum, researchers in Japan report that matcha inhibited the growth of P. gingivalis in lab experiments. In addition, in a clinical study involving 45 people with periodontitis, people who used matcha mouthwash showed significantly lower levels of P. gingivalis in saliva samples than at the start of the study.

A previous study on mice found that green tea extract can inhibit the growth of pathogens, including E. coli. Matcha, which is used in traditional ceremonies and for flavoring in beverages and sweets, is made from raw leaves of C. sinensis. For the new study, researchers from the Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, the National Institute of Infectious Disease in Tokyo and other institutions carried out a series of in vitro experiments to test the efficacy of a matcha solution against 16 oral bacterial species, including three strains of P. gingivalis. Within two hours, nearly all the cultured P. gingivalis cells had been killed by the matcha extract, and after four hours of exposure, all the cells were dead.

From: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/05/240521124410.htm