Dental caries and vitamin D status in children in Asia

Dental caries and vitamin D inadequacy are known to affect children worldwide. Vitamin D has a vital role in tooth formation. There is growing evidence linking suboptimal serum vitamin D level with dental caries in children. This paper reviews the literature on both the prevalence of dental caries and of vitamin D deficiency in children in four Asian regions, discusses their associated risk factors, and reviews the global evidence on the association between dental caries and vitamin D in children. Caries prevalence in children ranged from 40% to 97% in Eastern Asia, 38-73.7% in Southern Asia, and 26.5-74.7% in Western Asian countries. Moreover, a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Asian children was identified, even in countries in equatorial regions, ranging from 2.8% to 65.3% in Eastern Asia, 5-66.7% in Southern Asia, 4-45.5% in Western Asia and 38.1-78.7% in Central Asian countries. Obesity, age, female gender, higher latitude, season, darker skin pigmentation, sunlight protection behaviors, less sunlight exposure and low intake of food containing vitamin D were important factors associated with lower serum vitamin D in Asia. Suboptimal vitamin D level in children may be a significant risk factor for dental caries, and requires further research to ascertain such an association in children in Asia, as well as to understand its exact influence on caries risk and development.