TOKYO: A cup of green tea a day may keep the dentist away. That`s the conclusion of a new study published in Preventive Medicine.

Green tea contains antimicrobial molecules called catechins that may promote dental health, researchers claim.

“Green tea may have bactericidal effects, which would affect teeth, but only if you drink it without sugar,” said Alfredo Morabia, of Columbia University in New York and editor of Preventive Medicine, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new research.