Calcium and vitamin D supplements reduce tooth loss in the elderly.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Oral bone and tooth loss are correlated with bone loss at nonoral sites.

Calcium and vitamin D supplementation slow the rate of bone loss from various skeletal sites, but it is not known if intake of these nutrients affects oral bone and, in turn, tooth retention.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 145 subjects taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as older adults, both men and women.

Tooth loss was examined in 145 healthy subjects aged 65 years and older who completed a 3-year, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the effect of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone loss from the hip, as well as a 2-year follow-up study after discontinuation of study supplements.

A comprehensive oral examination at 5 years included assessment of caries, oral hygiene, and periodontal disease.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Teeth were counted at 18 months and 5 years.

Initial age (mean +/- SD) of subjects was 71 +/- 5 years, and the number of teeth remaining was 22 +/- 7.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Bone Density, Calcium, Calcium, Dietary, Cholecalciferol, Citric Acid, Dietary Supplements and Femur Neck.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 145 subjects.

Its findings take up roughly 3 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2001 (The American journal of medicine), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.