Effect of Dietary Intake of Dried Whole Food Concentrates (Juice Plus) on Clinical Outcomes Following Periodontal Therapy: A Pilot Study

There are 3 hypotheses to be tested: 1. That daily supplementation with Juice Plus+ will significantly improve treatment outcomes over placebo supplementation, at 3-months post-therapy, when used as an adjunct to conventional non-surgical periodontal therapy. 2. Triple therapy with Juice Plus+ (fruit, vegetable \& berry) will produce additional treatment benefit over dual therapy (fruit \& vegetable) and over placebo. 3. Improved treatment outcomes with Juice Plus+ will be maintained at 9-months post-therapy. Brief Summary: Periodontal diseases are highly prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases and a major cause of tooth loss. Data supports an association between periodontitis prevalence and reduced serum levels of antioxidants. Anecdotal reports from periodontal specialists indicate significant improvements in clinical outcomes from periodontal therapy where adjunctive Juice Plus+ is used, in agreement with research data from other systemic diseases where hyper-inflammation is implicated in disease pathogenesis. There is however, a lack of scientific evidence from clinical trials of periodontitis. Given the demonstrable antioxidant deficiency in periodontitis patients (both locally and peripherally), the excess oxidative stress in periodontitis patients, and the anecdotal evidence of clinical benefit from the adjunctive use of Juice Plus+, this study proposes to investigate the impact of daily supplementation with Juice Plus+ as an adjunct to traditional non-surgical periodontal therapy, in improving therapeutic outcomes.