Association of periodontitis with vitamin D and calcium levels: a meta-analysis

Introduction: Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to raised periodontal inflammation, a higher concentration of periodontopathogens, greater periodontal destruction, and more severe periodontitis. This study aimed to assess the influence of vitamin D and calcium levels on periodontitis. Material and methods: A search for studies on vitamin D, calcium, and periodontal disease was conducted in the following databases: PubMed (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library), Web of Science (WoS), and Scopus. For continuous outcomes, the estimates of effects of an intervention were expressed as mean differences (MD), using the inverse variance (IV) method with 95% confidence intervals. The meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.4 software. Results: Thirty-one studies with 14,340 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Periodontitis patients had mean vitamin D concentrations significantly lower than controls without the disease (p<0.001). Likewise, these patients showed significantly lower serum vitamin D concentrations (p<0.001) and higher salivary vitamin D concentrations, although without reaching statistical significance (p=0.70). Regarding calcium levels, periodontitis patients had significantly higher salivary levels than controls (p<0.001). Conclusions: Low vitamin D and high calcium levels are associated with an increased periodontitis risk.