Influence of Vitamin D & Calcium Supplementation in the Management of Periodontitis

Introduction: It has long been recognized that vitamin D is a hormone and were many studies reporting that patients in periodontal maintenance programs taking vitamin D and calcium supplementation had a trend for better periodontal health compared to patients not taking supplementation. Aim: To evaluate the effect of vitamin D and calcium supplementation in reducing gingival inflammation, using clinical parameters like gingival index (GI), oral hygiene index-simplified (OHIS), probing pocket depth (PPD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and bone density (BD). Also, to assess whether calcium and vitamin D oral supplementation influences alveolar Bone Density (BD). Design and Settings: A nonrandomised clinical trial done in Amrita School of dentistry, Kochi, India. Materials and Methods: Group A taking vitamin D (250IU/day) and calcium (500mg/day) supplementation, and Group B were not taking oral supplementation. All subjects had at least one or more teeth with chronic moderate periodontitis. Digital Orthopantomogram images were taken to assess bone density. Data were collected at baseline and three months. Statistical Analysis used: OHI-S, GI, PPD, CAL, and Bone Densities (BD) were calculated per group. Karl Pearson Coefficient of correlation was used to test correlation of bone density with GI and OHI - S. Intergroup comparison of parameters were done using Independent two Sample t-test. Intragroup comparison of parameters at recall interval was done using Paired sample t-test. The results were considered statistically significant when p-value was < 0.05. Results: Both Groups showed significant change in the periodontal parameters and bone density after three months and intragroup comparison showed highly significant results for vitamin D group in relation to GI, OHI S and bone density. Conclusion: Calcium and vitamin D supplementation has got a positive effect on periodontal health and it can be used as an adjunct to non surgical periodontal therapy.