The Relationship Between Bruxism and Vitamin D

An interesting article titled “Association between bruxism severity and serumconcentrations of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D levels” appears in the 2022 edition of Clinical and Experimental Dental Research written by B. Allaf and M. Abdul-Hak (pp. 1-9). In the article discussion is made of a study that was conducted to investigate the relationship between bruxism, when someone unconsciously clenches or grinds their teeth, and blood levels of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, commonly known as Vitamin D. Vitamin D is an essenetial vitamin found in foods, like salmon, eggs, and dairy products. Vitamin D can also be obtained from mainly through skin exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Obtaining a low amount of vitamin D has been linked to greater risks of diseses ike cancer and heart diasese and could help prevent gum disease. In the study, 100 patients who had dental treatment peformed at Damascus … Read more

Dental X-rays Show Vitamin D Deficiency

McMaster anthropologists have found that human teeth hold important information about Vitamin D deficiency which can be identified by a dental X-ray. The researchers had previously discovered that human teeth hold a detailed and permanent record of Vitamin D deficiency. The teeth show microscopic deformities in dentin. This is preserved by enamel which protect teeth from breaking down. Vitamin D deficiency often occurs when a human does not get enough exposure to sunlight. This work is useful for examining the teeth of people who lived years ago to see if they were ever deprived of sunlight and had Vitamin D deficiency. An issue when looking for teeth deformities currently is that that a tooth must be cut open and there are limited teeth the researchers had access to. To avoid wasting specimens, the researchers tried to find a way to … Read more

Vitamin D deficiency and increased chronic headaches

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland have shown that a vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of chronic headache. The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, analysed the serum vitamin D levels and occurrence of headache in approximately 2,600 men between 42 and 60 years old in 1984-1989. In 68% of these men, the serum vitamin D level was below 50 nmol/l, which is generally considered to be a vitamin D deficiency. In the study chronic headache occurring at least once a week occurred in 250 men, and men reporting chronic headache had lower serum vitamin D levels than others. The study population was divided into four groups based on their serum vitamin D levels. The group with the lowest vitamin D levels had over a twofold increased risk of chronic headache in comparison to the group … Read more

Vitamin D Can Help Prevent Gum Infections

A study appearing in the June 2011 issue of Infection and Immunity titled “Vitamin D-Mediated Induction of Innate Immunity in Gingival Epithelial Cells.” written by Laura McMahon and et al. (vol. 79, no. 6, pages 2250-2256), suggests that making sure you have enough Vitamin D can help with the immune defense in the oral cavity. The authors found that an innate immune regulator TREM-1 can be induced by treating gingival cells with vitamin D. While still much work needs to be done looking at how exactly vitamin D can fight infections there is potential for targeted therapies in the future. The authors state “As vitamin D and calcium defciences can lead to increased inflammation, it is reasonable to hypothesize that there is an association with periodontal disease….vitamin D-mediated gene regulation of the innate immune response may be associated with the … Read more