Sun and vitamin D significantly reduce the risk of tooth decay
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Experts from the American Center for Sunlight, Nutrition and Health (SUNARC), after analyzing the results of several studies, concluded that sun and vitamin D significantly reduce the risk of caries.
In the middle of the XIX century, scientists noticed that the health of teeth among American teenagers and young people varies depending on their place of residence. So, if in the state of Kentucky during the Civil War of 1861-1865 for military service because of the lack of teeth did not get 8 people out of a thousand, then in the New England area this ratio was 25: 1,000.
Studies conducted by Clarence Mills and Bion East in the 1930s, for the first time, linked the geographical spread of the incidence of caries with exposure to sunlight. Specialists used data on male adolescents aged 12-14. Later, East discovered an inverse relationship between the prevalence of caries and the annual amount of sunshine: those living in the solar western United States (3,000 hours of insolation per year) had half the carious lesions compared to those who lived in the more cloudy northeast (2,200 hours ).
Several works conducted in the 1950s in Oregon showed that the incidence of caries was lower in the sunny regions of the state. The conclusion remained unchanged even after taking into account other factors affecting the prevalence of caries. Then the scientists suggested that the UV-B spectrum influence keeps your teeth healthy by improving absorption of calcium and metabolism.
Curious are also the studies conducted in the 20's and 30's of the last century: May Mellanby and colleagues from Sheffield (England) studied the role of vitamin D in the state of teeth. The first experiments on dogs demonstrated that the vitamin stimulates the calcification of teeth. Then the effect of the "solar" vitamin on caries in children was investigated, and it turned out that the effect was beneficial. Additional experiments involving children from New York showed that to prevent caries it is necessary to take 800 international units of vitamin D per day.
The mechanism by which the ultraviolet rays of spectrum B reduce the risk of developing caries, is to produce vitamin D and the subsequent production of cathelicidin, which attacks the oral cavity associated with the caries bacterium. Catelicidin, as is well known, fights well against bacterial infections, including pneumonia, sepsis and tuberculosis.
The researchers argue that the serum of 25-hydroxyvitamin D at a concentration of about 30-40 nanograms per milliliter (75-100 nmol / l) has a serious effect on the formation of caries. (In an average white American this figure is about 25 ng / ml, for a black man - 16 ng / ml.) To achieve this, it is recommended to take 1-400 international units of vitamin D3 per day or sunbathe at noon for 15 -20 minutes, substituting 20-30% of the body surface for the rays.
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