Hydrogen Water Kills Harmful Bacteria That Cause Tooth Decay and Gum Disease
- Authors
- Sung-Hoon Lee, Dong-Heon Baek
- Journal
- International Journal of Oral Biology
- Year
- 2013
- DOI
- 10.11620/IJOB.2013.38.2.081
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- Dental Caries
- Body System
- Oral
TL;DR
Hydrogen-rich water was found to be more effective at killing harmful bacteria in the mouth than regular tap water.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water demonstrated antibacterial activity against all four major oral disease-causing bacteria tested, compared to tap water.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen-rich water (water infused with hydrogen gas) could kill bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease. They exposed four types of oral bacteria to hydrogen-rich water and regular tap water, then counted how many bacteria survived. Hydrogen-rich water killed more bacteria than tap water did in all four bacterial strains tested.
Practical Takeaway
This laboratory study suggests hydrogen-rich water may help reduce harmful oral bacteria, but it was conducted in test tubes only—not in human mouths. Before considering hydrogen water for oral health, clinical trials in people would be needed to confirm whether these laboratory results translate to real-world benefits.
Abstract
There are estimated to be about 700 species of bacteria inthe oral cavity. Based on epidemiological investigations,some of these strains have been proposed as the pathogensresponsible for oral diseases such as dental caries, gingivitisand periodontitis. Since electrolyzed hydrogen-rich waterhas been shown to have beneficial effects on human immunity,its use has increased. In our study, the antibacterialactivity of hydrogen-rich water for oralagainst bacteria associatedwith oral disease was evaluated. The bacterial strainsStreptococcus mutans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonasgingivalis and Tannerella forsythia were culturedin specific growth medium. S. mutans, F. nucleatum and P.gingivalis were soaked to thein both hydrogen water andtap water for 30 sec and then inoculated onto mitis-salivariusagar and brain heart infusion agar including supplementedwithvitamin K and hemin, respectively. The numbersof bacterial colonies were then measured after cultivationfor 48 hours. In the case of T. forsythia, which does notgrow well on agar plates, inoculations into modified neworal spirochete (NOS) broth were performed and growth curveanalysis was undertaken every day with a spectrophotometer.Hydrogen water showed antibacterial activity against allfour bacterial strains in comparison with tap-water. We conclude from this that hydrogen water may have a positiveimpact on oral hygiene by helping to remove cariogenicbacteria and periodontopathogens.