Association between vitamin D supplementation and the prevalence of dental caries and gingivitis in children. A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a variety of oral health disorders. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was investigate the association between parental-reported vitamin D supplementation and oral health in 6- and 10-year-old children living in Poland. Material and methods: The study population consisted of 2019 6- and 10-year old children from 10 out of 16 provinces in Poland. Parents answered a structured questionnaire covering information on socio-economic and dietary factors as well as data on the oral hygiene behavior. The children underwent a clinical examination and the prevalence of dental caries and frequency (dmft/DMFT) and gingival bleeding on probing (BOP) was recorded. We used Spearman’s correlation and logistic regressions to calculate associations between vitamin D supplementation and the collected data. Results: According to the parents, 44.3% of the 6-year olds and 32.7% of the 10-year-olds received vitamin D supplements. For both age groups combined, the prevalence of dental caries (dmft/DMFT>0) was 84.0%. BOP was recorded in 15.5% and 27.8% of the 6- and 10 year olds, respectively. The multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that vitamin D supplementation was significantly associated with a reduced risk of gingival bleeding (OR 0.34; 95% CI: 0.12; 0.56) but we found no association with the prevalence or frequency of caries in the mixed dentition. Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation was associated with better gingival health in children but we found no caries-preventive effects in the mixed dentition. Clinical relevance: Vitamin D supplements are important and do more good than harm, in particular among children living in the Northern hemisphere. Our study showed that Vitamin D supplementation is associated with better gingival health in schoolchildren. The association between vitamin D supplementation and dental caries is still probable but definitely not clear and we found no caries-preventive effects in the mixed dentition. Therefore we encourage further controlled clinical trials on this matter with focus on the mixed and young permanent dentitions.