Vitamin D Is Good for Your Gums

From: Roman Bystrianyk (rbystrianyk_at_gmail.com)
Date: 09/05/04 

Date: 4 Sep 2004 19:01:37 -0700

http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?id=204&title=Vitamin+D+Is+Good+for+Your+Gums&event=news_print_list_item

Rosalie Marion Bliss, "Vitamin D Is Good for Your Gums", Agricultural
Research Service, August 26, 2004,
Link: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2004/040826.htm

Getting enough vitamin D, either through the diet or from sunlight,
could be important for oral health, based on findings of a recent
study funded in part by the Agricultural Research Service. The
analytical study looked at a possible connection between vitamin D
levels in the blood and periodontal disease, a widespread chronic
inflammatory condition marked by a loss of attachment of the thin
ligaments that connect teeth with their surrounding bone sockets.
Periodontal disease is a primary cause of tooth loss, particularly
among the elderly.

The study was conducted by Bess Dawson-Hughes, a physician
specializing in bone health and nutrition, together with colleagues in
academia and medicine. Dawson-Hughes is director of the Bone
Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research
Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, Mass.

The scientists studied relevant data on 11,202 men and women aged 20
or older who participated in the third National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey. The scientists analyzed data on periodontal
attachment loss and blood levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3, a biomarker
indicating vitamin D levels accumulated from both dietary intake and
exposure to sunlight.

The population was ranked into five groups from lowest to highest in
terms of blood levels of vitamin D. Four out of the five groups--80
percent of those studied--had lower-than-desired vitamin D levels. The
scientists found that the higher the levels in volunteers' blood
serum, the better their periodontal health. Among men and women aged
50 and older, on average, those in the groups at the low range of
vitamin D levels had 25 to 27 percent more attachment loss than had
those in the highest range.

The scientists suspect that vitamin D cuts down on the inflammatory
response that leads to periodontal disease.

Confirmational studies are needed, but the findings suggest important
oral health implications related to vitamin D intake. An adequate
intake for dietary vitamin D has been established as a range from 200
to 600 international units (IU) daily, depending upon age group,
although recent evidence suggests that more vitamin D may be needed.

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