Calcium's Role in Bone and Teeth

The optimal health and strength of human bones rely on a balanced diet and a continuous supply of essential nutrients, with special emphasis on the significance of calcium and Vitamin D.

Calcium assumes the responsibility of constructing, shaping, and maintaining bones and teeth. This function plays a critical role in reducing the occurrence of osteoporosis. Beyond its role in reinforcing dental and skeletal structures, calcium also carries importance for the body's blood vessels, muscles, and bodily fluids.

For infants and young children, calcium is essential for the development of sturdy teeth and bones, while adults require it to support strong teeth and a solid skeletal framework. Inadequate calcium intake leads to weakened bones and more fragile, porous teeth. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the American population fails to meet the recommended calcium intake.

Osteoporosis doesn't solely affect bones; it can also impact teeth by weakening the jawbone. This condition raises concerns for oral health due to its potential to develop in the jawbones, leading to tooth loss. As bone mineralization and density decrease, the risk of periodontal disease increases.

All of these issues can be avoided by obtaining adequate calcium, either through dietary sources or supplementation, which in turn can provide protection and reinforcement to teeth. People can achieve the recommended daily calcium intake by incorporating a nutritious diet that includes a variety of calcium-rich foods. Dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese stand out as primary sources of calcium. Other foods rich in calcium include:

~Leafy greens like kale, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage (bok choy)
~Fish with soft bones such as sardines and salmon
~Various types of bread, pasta, and grains
~Calcium-fortified cereals, juices, and beverages

Calcium from food makes its way through the body alongside other nutrients, eventually reaching the bone marrow. From there, it is transported to the teeth and integrated into the enamel. Consequently, calcium plays a pivotal role in maintaining both skeletal and dental health.
Calcium's Role in Bone and Teeth

Physiological functions of calcium in human body

The name calcium is derived from Latin word calas meaning lime was known as early as the first centuries when the ancient Romans prepared lime as CaO.

Calcium is a biologically relevant element to plants and animals. In animals, the calcium ions are associated with various physiological and pathological processes.

#Calcium is responsible for construction, formation and maintenance of bone and teeth. This function helps reduce the occurrence of osteoporosis.
#Calcium is a vital component in blood clotting systems and also helps in wound healing.
#Calcium helps to control blood pressure.
#Calcium is an essential component in the production of enzymes and hormones that regulate digestion, energy, and fat metabolism.
#Calcium plays an important role in signal transduction pathways, where they act as a second messenger, in neurotransmitter release from neurons, in contraction of all muscle cell types, and in fertilization.
#Calcium helps to transport ions (electrically charged particles) across the membrane.
# Excitation of skeletal and cardiac muscle contraction.
#Transmission of nervous tissue impulses.
#Calcium assists in maintaining all cells and connective tissues in the body.
#Calcium may be helpful to reduce the incidence of premature heart disease, especially if adequate intakes of magnesium are also maintained.
#Calcium may help to prevent periodontal disease (gum disease).

The requirements are greatest during the period of growth such as childhood, during pregnancy, when breast feeding.
Physiological functions of calcium in human body

What are the main causes of osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a condition where multiple mechanisms come together to cause loss of bone mass and deterioration of the skeletal structure. These factors, together with an increased risk of falls in some people, contribute to the high incidence of fragility factories in osteoporosis.

Bones are made mostly of a protein called collagen. Collagen provides the bones with a flexile framework. The strength and stiffness of bones comes from calcium. People who drink instead of milk or other dairy products likely will have lower calcium intakes. Low calcium intake contributes to osteoporosis, a disease leading to fragile and broken bones.

The large amounts of sugar, bubbles caused by carbon dioxide, and phosphoric acid that are found in soft drinks remove nutritious minerals from bones allowing the bones to become weak and increasing the risk for them to break.

This is done by the phosphoric acid disrupting the calcium-phosphorous ratio, which dissolves calcium from the bones. This can cause calcium loss in bones. The phosphorus acid then pulls the calcium from their storage warehouse – that is, their teeth and bones. By lowering bone mineral density it may be increasing osteoporosis risk.

This deficiency in calcium intake and increased consumption of soft drinks is a greater problem for women than for men. Osteoporosis factures occur in 1 in women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 5 years. Every year in the United States more than 1.5 million bones are broke due to osteoporosis.
What are the main causes of osteoporosis?

Deficiency of calcium

Calcium is an essential nutrient which must be provided regularly in human diet.

It is necessary for normal blood clotting, transmission of nerve impulses, muscle contraction, hormone secretion and enzyme activation. Calcium deficiency usually remains undiagnosed for years because the bones serve as a reservoir and continue to release calcium into the blood.

Calcium deficiency can lead to the following problems: arching joints, brittle nails, eczema, elevated blood cholesterol, heart palpitation, hypertension (high blood pressure), insomnia, muscle cramps, nervousness, numbness in the arms and/or legs, a pasty complexion, rheumatoid arthritis, rickets, and tooth decay.

A reduction in plasma calcium results in tetany, a hyperactivity of the motor muscles, facial spasm, and spasm in the wrist and metatarsophalangeal joints.

Eventually, low calcium can manifest as osteoporosis, with accompanying bone fractures and loss of height. It is well established that supplemental calcium can improve bone mineral density, although calcium alone is inadequate or prevent to treat osteoporosis.

Deficiencies of calcium are also associated with cognitive impairment convulsions, depression, delusions and hyperactivity.

Negative calcium balance, where output exceeds intake, can lead to lack of calcium in the bones and the bending of leg bones under the weight of the body. This condition is called rickets. Rickets is caused most commonly by vitamin D deficiency, but lack of calcium and phosphorus can also be a basis for this disease.
Deficiency of calcium 

Calcium in human health

Calcium is one of 21 elements known to be essential to humans. Calcium is a very potent mineral, fulfilling different tasks in human bodies. The most important of its functions relate to: mineralization of the bone tissue (bones and teeth), maintaining the cardiac rhythm, coagulating the blood, regulating the acid-basic equilibrium.

Calcium as a nutrient is not useful to health in isolation.  For example, utilization of calcium depends on adequate vitamin D status. Dietary sodium greatly influences renal calcium reabsorption.

Calcium intake is very beneficial for patients that suffer from acute or chronic convulsions, osteoporosis, concentration disorders, headaches, allergies etc.

A deficiency of calcium, whether from decreased provision, decreased absorption or increased excretion, can result in numerous disease situations, especially pertaining to bone. Calcium deficiency leads to anemia, osteoporosis, dental cavities, irregular menses, severe headaches, sexual problems (loss of libido and sexual appetite, erectile dysfunctions etc.), emotional disorders (stress, anxiety, chronic depression), sleep disorders (insomnia) and many other dysfunctions.

Dairy products tend to be the greatest contributors of calcium to the human diet. As much as 55% of calcium in the American diet is derived from dairy products. In smaller quantities, it is found in meat, vegetables (parsley, peas, carrots, kohlrabi, celery, lettuce, radish, scallion, but not in spinach), soy beans and all soy products. Calcium is also present in fruits, bread and fish.

Too much calcium in the blood leads to several disorders or, more severely, to lethargy, confusion and even coma. This can happen to patients that take high amounts of calcium supplements and alkaline substances in the same time (antacid tablets – against gastritis and ulcer symptoms).

It is not uncommon today to find people ingesting very large supplemental amounts of calcium, Sometimes, their intake can climb above 10 times their RDA.
Calcium in human health

Hydroxyapatite in bone

Bone is formed from approximately 8% water 22% proteins, and 70% mineral.

For a 70-kg subject, the calcium mass represents about 1300 grams, 99% of which is in bone and teeth, mostly as hydroxyapatite.

Like other apatites it has a calcium and phosphate component in a ratio of 1.67 (Ca/P ration) but is associated with a hydroxyl group.

Hydroxyapatite is generally constitutes between 60 to 70 weight % of the bone, while the remaining part is collagen. The inorganic component provides compressive strength to the bone. Bone is continually remade as a balance of formation and breakdown.

Using artificial hydroxyapatite as a bone substitute is therefore the most obvious choice, as it replicates the mineral composition and the behavior of human bone.

Hydroxyapatite is highly biocompatible and osteoconductive; in fact, it promotes the formation of new bone by favoring the growth of osteoblast cells.
Hydroxyapatite in bone

What are the causes of osteopenia?

Osteopenia is defined as a decrease in bone density caused by reduced bone formation and/ or increased bone resorption.

Reduction in bone formation may result from either inadequate matrix formation or inadequate the matrix calcification.

Significant failure of bone mineralization, or osteopenia, occurs in more than 50% of premature infants weighing less than 1000g at birth.

Replacement of bone matrix by benign or malignant bone proliferation (e.g. thalassemia, multiple myeloma and leukemia) or bone marrow disease (e.g. metastases, infections and storage disease) may also result in osteopenia.

Deficiency of calcium and phosphorus are the principal causes. Demands for rapid growth in the third trimester are met by intrauterine mineral rates of approximately 120 mg of calcium and 60 mg of phosphorus/kg/day.

Poor mineral intake and absorption after birth in undermineralized new and remodeled bone.

Other most common cause of osteopenia may be advanced patent age or stress-shielding can occur. 

Smoking, poor calcium intake, immobilization, malnutrition, a hypogonadal state, and family history are all risk factors for osteopenia.
What are the causes of osteopenia?

Best food sources of calcium

Calcium is the most profuse mineral in the human body. One to two percent of an adult’s body weight is comprised of calcium.

Calcium is a major mineral essential for healthy bones and teeth. There are several minerals known to be essential to the human body and which must be obtained from food.

The remaining calcium can be found in blood, extracellular fluid, muscle and other tissues.

Good plant sources of calcium include calcium set-tofu, green leafy vegetables, calcium-fortified plant based beverages, broccoli, legumes, Chinese cabbage, nuts, whole grains, seeds and nuts.

In the United States, an estimated 72 percent of calcium comes from milk, cheese and yoghurt and from foods to which dairy products have been added such as pizza, lasagna, dairy desserts. Of all the dairy products nonfat milk is the most nutrient dense because of its high calcium content and low fat and calorie content.

Calcium requirement can be achieved by including foods in the diet that naturally contain calcium, through calcium-fortified foods, the use of supplements or by a combination of these.

Drinking hard water can provide 200 mg of calcium daily but soft water contains almost none. Other calcium rich foods include black molasses, edible seaweeds, watercress, parsley and dried figs. Non yoghurt is another excellent source of calcium.

Although grains are not particularly rich in calcium, the use of calcium containing additives in these foods accounts for a substantial proportion of the calcium ingested by people who consume a large amount of grain.

Fortification with calcium for a number of foods that do not naturally contribute calcium – such as orange juice, other beverages and ready to eat cereals is becoming commonplace in the United States.

The body absorbs 25 to 75 percent of dietary calcium, depending on a variety of factors including age, presence of adequate vitamin D, the body’s need for calcium and calcium intake. Dairy products are a good source of calcium in a form that is easy for the body to absorb.

Calcium absorption is particularly high during pregnancy and infancy, and is at its lowest in old age.

Without sufficient vitamin D, calcium bone mineralization can be disrupted and this disruption will affect the structural integrity of the skeleton.

Deficiency of calcium may lead to poor bone and teeth formation. Severe deficiency may cause rickets in children and osteomalacia on adults.
Best food sources of calcium