A certain protective effect of vitamin D against dental caries in US children and youth: A cross-sectional study

Objectives

Recent studies reported that evidence of the association between caries and vitamin D was inconclusive. We investigated the relationship between dental caries and serum vitamin D levels in US children and youth aged 5–19 years through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The purpose of this study was to analyze the relations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D [25(OH)D] level and dental caries in children and youth.

Methods

Data were collected from the NHANES dataset performed in 2011–2018. A total of 8896 subjects completed the examination was enrolled. Serum 25(OH)D was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS). All teeth examined and caries assessment was conducted by licensed dentists. Statistical analyses included complex samples Chi-square tests, analysis of variance, logistic regression analyses, and restricted cubic splines conducted by R software.

Results

There was a nonlinear relation between dental caries and age in youth. Vitamin D showed a relatively stable protective effect when the concentration exceeded 60 nmol/L. There was a dose–effect relation that a 10 nmol/L increase in serum 25(OH)D concentrations was associated with a decreased caries odd by 10%.

Conclusions

Our findings suggested that vitamin D sufficiency may be a protective factor for dental caries.