Hydrogen Jelly Shows Promise for Gum Disease Treatment in Clinical Trial

Authors
Journal
Healthcare
Year
DOI
10.3390/healthcare13050577
Study Type
Human
Outcome
Neutral
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Country
Japan
Health Condition
Gingivitis
Body System
Oral

TL;DR

Eating hydrogen-rich jelly for two weeks did not show more improvement in gum inflammation than a placebo jelly.

Key Finding

Both hydrogen-rich jelly and placebo jelly reduced gum inflammation markers over 14 days, but there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Summary

This study tested whether a jelly containing high levels of hydrogen could reduce gum inflammation in people with gingivitis (inflamed gums). Participants ate either hydrogen-rich jelly or placebo jelly three times daily for 14 days. Both groups showed improvement in gum bleeding and inflammation compared to their starting point, but the hydrogen jelly group did not improve significantly more than the placebo group.

Practical Takeaway

While this small human trial suggests hydrogen-rich jelly may have some anti-inflammatory effects on gums, the lack of superiority over placebo limits what we can conclude about its specific benefits. The improvement seen in both groups may reflect natural healing or the placebo effect. More research with larger sample sizes and longer durations would be needed to determine if hydrogen-rich jelly offers real advantages for gum health.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Initiation and progression of periodontal disease include oxidative stress. Systemic application of antioxidants may provide clinical benefits against periodontal disease including gingivitis. Recently, a jelly containing a high concentration of hydrogen (40 ppm) was developed. We hypothesized that oral intake of this hydrogen-rich jelly may be safe and effective on gingivitis. This clinical trial was designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of oral intake of hydrogen-rich jelly against gingival inflammation. Methods: Participants with gingivitis were instructed to orally ingest 30 g of hydrogen-rich jelly (experimental group) or placebo jelly (control group) three times a day for 14 consecutive days. The primary outcome of this trial was the percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) sites. Secondary outcomes were oral parameters, serum reactive oxygen metabolites, antioxidant capacity, oxidative index, concentrations of cytokine (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha) in gingival crevicular fluid, and adverse events. For all parameters, Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison between experimental and control groups. Analysis of covariance, controlling for baseline periodontal inflamed surface area, was performed to evaluate the association between the effect of the hydrogen-rich jelly and gingival inflammation. Results: In the experiment and control groups, the percentage of sites with BOP and PISA significantly decreased at the end of the experiment compared to the baseline. However, no significant differences were found between groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Administration of hydrogen-rich jelly for 14 days decreased gingival inflammation. However, no significant differences were identified compared to the control group.