Impact of vegetarianism and veganism on oral health

Abstract

Vegetarians and especially vegans have a number of nutritional features, which leads to the fact that the risks of certain metabolic disorders and diseases are somewhat different from those of omnivores. This is also true for the state of the oral cavity. Thus, low serum vitamin B12 and selenium are likely to make vegetarians and vegans more prone to the development of dental caries. At the same time, high consumption of magnesium, ascorbate, folate, carotenoids, and vitamin E inadvertently has a beneficial effect on the oral soft tissue condition in vegans and vegetarians. In particular, it was found that they are less likely to suffer from inflammatory periodontal diseases. Also, there is evidence that the oral microbiome in vegetarians is slightly different from that of omnivores. Vegetarians usually have a lower bacterial content, but probably they have more candida.