We all know that calcium is one of the primarily minerals and nutrients that can be found in a human body. Calcium is important for our dental and overall health, and nutrition experts recommend us adding plenty of natural sources of calcium to our daily diet. Or, some people who are in need of increased amounts of this mineral can sometimes make a choice to take calcium supplements. Calcium is the main building material for our bones and teeth, and it is estimated that 99 per cent of calcium in the body is stored in our teeth and bones. However, as we age, the ability of our body to digest calcium declines. That is why aging people are sometimes recommended to take the supplements. Unfortunately, along with positive effects of taking such supplements, there are also negative effects. According toe the findings of a study published recently in the Journal of American Medical Association, taking calcium supplements is linked to increased heart disease risk, especially in aging women.

Th research included collecting data and following about 4,000 study participants, women aged 50+, for the period of time over 12 years. This study was a follow up of another study which found out that men who take calcium supplements regularly have a little  higher heart disease risk compared to those men who never use this kind of supplements: for some men the chances to develop this serious disease go as high as 20 per cent. According to the published report about the study on women, it was discovered that the same kinds of risks are valid for women as well, and those who take calcium supplements have higher chances to die from a heart disease. The found out effects are most likely caused by excessive calcium getting collected in the arteries and this way increasing heat disease risk, as well as the risk for some other cardiovascular diseases.

Unnecessary calcium supplementation should be avoided at all costs, unless there’s a clear indication of deficiency ascertained by a bone scan or other vitamin deficiencies,’ said senior heart surgeon Dr Ramakant Panda, one of the leading heart surgeons and the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Asian Heart Institute, who led the study. He underlines that despite a common recommendation which people aged 55 and over can received from their dental care specialists to take calcium supplements in order to support their dental health, it is necessary to do everything possible to avoid using this supplements. He said that those who are taking the supplement have elevated heart disease risk which goes on increasing withing the time the supplement is being taken, so in the end of the ends the risk for developing a serious heart condition can go way higher than the stated 20 per cent.

So, the best solution is adding plenty of natural sources of calcium to our daily diet. Natural calcium does not have that property to build up in our blood vessels, but it is still recommended to control daily calcium consumption, especially in the elderly. Daily doses of calcium recommended by the specialists are the following: 900-1,000 mg calcium per day for men, and 1,300 – 1,400 mg of calcium per day for men. There are a few types of foods rich in calcium which can play a role of natural alternatives to calcium supplements. Those include cheddar cheese (contains 300 mg of calcium in 20 ml of high quality product), plain curd (450 mg in a small cup), soy milk (almost 400 mg per cup), milk (300 mg in one glass), and tofu cheese (250 mg per cup). Besides, such natural food as almonds and sesame seeds are also considered excellent sources of calcium. Learn more about the issue and consult your dental care specialist before taking calcium supplements.

Tags: calcium supplements, heart disease risk

Posted: April 11th, 2013 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 2

It is a known fact that the presence of fluoride in water we drink or use for brushing out teeth is a controversial issue. Many of the experts point to negative effects of fluoridated water and argue for removing this chemical element from our drinking water. Studies have shown that fluoride in water leads to a variety of problems with our digestive system, including even such serious health condition as stomach ulcer. Besides, fluoride overdose which can possibly be a result of using fluoridated water, can have serious negative effects on our bone structure, leading to a variety of bone health related problems. In addition to the mentioned facts, excessive fluoride in water can be especially dangerous for little children whose body is still developing and can be really very sensitive to any chemical imbalances in the daily diet or drinking water quality.

On the other hand, fluoride is a chemical vital for our excellent dental health. It is a component of almost all dental care products like tooth pastes or mouthwashes because it helps prevent most of the known dental diseases and dental conditions. According to the most recent findings of an international scientific team, those people who use fluoridated drinking water have lower risks of tooth decay, one of the most common dental health conditions which usually results in quite serious dental problem including tooth loss. The research group based at the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH) at the University of Adelaide’s School of Dentistry, found some strong evidence to the fact that those people who use fluoridated water have better dental health since fluoride in water can play a role of a very effective instrument for tooth decay prevention. At that, as the study leaders underlined, the mentioned benefits can be clearly traced in adult people rather than in kids and teenagers.

For the study, the scientists analyzed extended data collected on over 3800 people of Australia continent aged 15+. The participants were asked to answer a number of questions about their current dental health, their dental care habits, and also the water they usual use. Professor Kaye Roberts-Thomson, one of  the study leaders and the director of ARCPOH at the University of Adelaide, said that the main idea was to focus mainly on adult participants since the effects of fluoride in water on kids are more or less researched. “We’ve known for some time that fluoridated drinking water can prevent tooth decay in children, but this is the first time that research has conclusively shown this in an adult population,” he said. After analyzing the data and looking closer at the results, the scientists came to the conclusion that those adult people who used fluoridated water for about 75 per cent of their lifetime enjoyed up to 30 per cent more effective tooth decay prevention compared to those who used fluoridated water for less than 25 per cent of their lifetime.

Thus, longer exposure to fluoridated water brings to more significant benefits, the Australian researchers are convinced. In addition to that, the scientists came to one more quite interesting conclusion. “Even those people who were born before water fluoridation existed have since received some benefit in their lifetimes,” Professor Kaye Roberts-Thomson said. The study leader underlined the importance of the findings of his scientific group on the background on the unfolding public controversy related to the effects of fluoride in water on our overall and dental health. He said that the discovered links should contribute to supporting using fluoridated water by all adult Australians and people around the world. The findings of the scientific group of the University of Adelaide were published earlier this month in the Journal of Dental Research, and if you want to find more information, see the detailed report about the study in this webpage.

Tags: fluoride in water, tooth decay prevention

Posted: March 15th, 2013 under Miscellaneous.
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The fact that modern foods and food products affect our dental health to a great extent is known. In contrast to ancient people who were consuming mostly hard unprocessed foods and enjoying the benefits of strong jaw bones, we mainly choose various soft processed options. That is why our teeth go less and less strong, most of modern people have underdeveloped wisdom teeth and shrunk jaw bone structure. Since the times of the Stone Age, our diet has undergone tremendous changes which definitely had a direct impact on our dental health. Centuries ago, humans started using fire which allowed receiving softer and more delicious foods. During the last century, food industry started producing totally new foods and presenting new tastes, making people take much more pleasure from eating, but at the same time suffer from destructive effects of unhealthy foods rich in saturated fats, sugars, and other substances. As a result, for the last decades  public dental and overall health has been going worse and worse.

In order to find out more evidence and study the changes in our dental structures, oral bacteria and dental health, an international team of dental care specialists led by the scientists from University of Adelaide’s Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), collected the data and analyzed the genetic records of ancient human skulls picked from the discovered ancient people skeletons.  According to the report of the Australian dental care specialists written after working in cooperation with British dental anthropology scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge and the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, the research team managed to analyze the data related to the changes that the humanity went through for over the period of time exceeding 7,500 years. It was found out that modern people suffer from numerous important dental health consequences caused by our nutrition changes as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the newest farming technologies.

The scientists extracted genetic materials from dental plaque of 34 ancient human skeletons found recently by archaeologists of Northern Europe. This was a great opportunity to trace the changes in oral bacteria and dental health of humans, from ancient people of the Medieval epochs to the people of modern times. It was estimated by the archaeologists that the skeletons could possibly belong to a group of hunter-gatherers and the first farmers living in the epochs of the Bronze Age and later. It turned out that ancient people did not have that many dental bacteria as we do, meaning that they did not suffer from that great number of dental diseases and problems as modern people do. “Oral bacteria in modern man are markedly less diverse than historic populations and this is thought to contribute to chronic oral and other disease in post-industrial lifestyles,” Professor Alan Cooper, the study leader, commented on the findings of his research group which were published earlier this month in the journal Nature Genetic.

“The composition of oral bacteria changed markedly with the introduction of farming, and again around 150 years ago. With the introduction of processed sugar and flour in the Industrial Revolution, we can see a dramatically decreased diversity in our oral bacteria, allowing domination by caries-causing strains. The modern mouth basically exists in a permanent disease state,” the scientist said. He underlined that using DNA samples was the only approach to analyze ancient oral bacteria. This interesting research which started about 17 years ago and was completed only the last year, and it was the first successful attempt to recognize the species of ancient teeth bacteria. It is reported that the scientific team is now looking for new opportunities to obtain some genetic material and analyze dental bacteria of the humans from the Neanderthal epoch. For their tests and observations, Adelaide researchers are using new amazing laboratory facilities which were opened only in 2007 and offered new opportunities as to decontamination and authentication of scientific materials.

Tags: oral bacteria, teeth bacteria

Posted: February 28th, 2013 under Miscellaneous.
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