Intakes of calcium, vitamin D, and dairy servings and dental plaque in older Danish adults

Background: To investigate whether intakes of calcium and dairy-servings within-recommendations were associated with plaque score when allowing for vitamin D intakes. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, including 606 older Danish adults, total dietary calcium intake (mg/day) was classified as below vs. within-recommendations and dairy intake as <3 vs. >= 3 servings/ d. Dental plaque, defined as the percentage of tooth surfaces exhibiting plaque, was classified as < median vs. >= median value (9.5%). Analyses were stratified by lower and higher (>= 6.8 mu g/d) vitamin D intake. Findings: Intakes of calcium (OR = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.31-0.92) and dairy servings (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.33-0.89) within-recommendations were significantly associated with lower plaque score after adjustments for age, gender, education, intakes of alcohol, sucrose and mineral supplements, smoking, diseases, number of teeth, visits to the dentist, use of dental floss/tooth pick and salivary flow, among those with higher, but not lower, vitamin D intake. Conclusion: Intakes of calcium dairy-servings within-recommendations were inversely associated with plaque, among those with higher, but not lower, vitamin D intakes. Due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, it is not possible to infer that this association is causal.