How Can Vitamin D Help Protect Oral Health?

Vitamin D is essential for healthy teeth and gums. It helps your body to regulate phosphorus and calcium levels and can help it to absorb these minerals more easily. Ensuring you receive adequate vitamin D can help decrease gum inflammation, a problem associated with gum disease and which is a common cause of tooth loss. Also, vitamin D can help reduce the rate of tooth decay as one study discovered that children who received a vitamin D supplement daily had fewer cavities compared with children who didn’t receive the supplement.

If you have an excellent oral care routine but have still faced problems recently with tooth decay, it could be worth seeing your doctor, to discuss a possible vitamin D deficiency. A straightforward blood test can reveal if your levels are low, and your doctor can advise you as to how much you need to supplement your vitamin D levels each day. There are ways you can get vitamin D naturally and one is to spend 10 to 15 minutes in the sun each day without sunblock, making sure your face and arms are exposed. Otherwise, you can try eating foods high in vitamin D such as oily fish, dairy products and eggs. Some foods are fortified with vitamin D including some cereals.