Investigators have examined the relationship between micronutrient intake, vitamin D serum levels and the Chronic Oral Diseases Burden.

The Chronic Oral Diseases Burden was defined as a combination of probing pocket depth, clinical attachment loss, furcation involvement, caries, and missing teeth.

In the study, published in Oral Diseases, the investigators used cross-sectional data from the third (n = 7,936) and the 2011 to 2014 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 4,929) to determine whether the intake and serum levels of vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorous impacted the Chronic Oral Diseases Burden. They also used structural equation modeling to examine pathways triggered by factors such as gender, age, socioeconomic status, obesity, smoking status, and alcohol intake.

The investigators discovered that higher micronutrient consumption and vitamin D serum levels decreased the Chronic Oral Diseases Burden. However, obesity was found to increase the Chronic Oral Diseases Burden via reduction of vitamin D serum levels.

The findings indicated that health diet policies may help improve oral health issues like caries and periodontitis as well as manage obesity and noncommunicable diseases.

No conflicts of interest were disclosed.