Calcium and the Risk For Periodontal Disease

Background: Dietary calcium has long been a candidate to modulate periodontal disease. Animal as weii as numan stuaies of calcium intaKe, Done mineral density, and tooth loss provide a rationale for hypothesizing that low dietary intake of calcium is a risk factor for periodontal disease. Methods: We evaluated the role of dietary calcium intake as a contributing risk factor for periodontal disease utilizing the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES Ill), which is representative of the US. civilian non-institutionalized population. Dietary calcium intake was determined from a 24-hour dietary recall. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database was used as a source of nutrient composition data. Periodontal disease was measured by attachment loss. In addition, serum calcium was assessed using venous blood samples. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between periodontal disease and dietary calcium intake or serum calcium levels after adjusting for ...