The Correlation between Caries and Vitamin: A Retrospective Investigation

Abstract Objectives Vitamin consumption and caries are related, although not much research has looked at the two together. This study examined the connection between the total number of decayed teeth (Decay, D) and vitamin intake using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Methods NHANES (2011–2018) provided the data for this retrospective analysis. Dental examiners, who were licensed dentists in at least one U.S. state, defined the number of caries-ridden teeth using the Radike AW Criteria for Diagnosis of Caries (1968), whereas the vitamin consumption data came from in-person interviews. To investigate the link between the total number of decayed teeth (D) and vitamin, multiple linear regression analysis was done. The quantitative data was described by mean ± standard deviation, whereas the categorical data was described by number of instances and proportion [n (%)]. Results Results: This retrospective study comprised 3226 people in total. Approximately 579955.26 mg (579955.26/3226/30 = 5.99 mg/day/person) of vitamin C was the most consumed throughout the course of 30 days, making up 88.72% of the total amount of vitamin nutrients consumed. The total number of decayed teeth (D) was influenced by age (years) (β = 0.0125, P = 0.0281), PIR (β = 0.3348, P < 0.0001), BMI (β = -0.0299, P < 0.0391), gender (β = 0.5127, P = 0.0063), race (β = -0. 8265, P < 0.0001), education (β = 0.9201, P = 0.0013), vitamin B6 (β = 0.0112, P = 0.0076), vitamin C (β = 0.0005, P = 0.0370), and vitamin D (β = -0.0080, P = 0.0001), with BMI, race, and vitamin D exhibiting a negative correlation. Conclusions There is a correlation between vitamin intake and carie. Caries is more common when there is an excess of vitamin C, insufficient vitamin D, and excessive vitamin B6. Naturally, additional prospective clinical trials are required to confirm our findings and investigate potential causes.