Race and gender disparity of dietary lycopene intake and periodontitis severity in older adults

Purpose Periodontitis in older adults is a public health issue. There is a growing population of older adults in the United States; furthermore, the proportion of the population of older adults who identify as a racial minority are growing at a faster rate than non-minority identifying older adults. Sufficient lycopene intake is one potential solution for individuals who express reluctance and/or an inability to access preventative oral care particularly by older adults who self-identify as a racial minority, leading to lower levels of periodontitis if they consume a sufficient amount of lycopene. The objective of this paper is to explore the association between insufficient lycopene intake and risk of periodontitis among older adults.