I’m wondering about your feelings on a therapeutic dose of vitamin K2 along with cod liver oil for vitamins A and D for my 19-year-old son who was born missing eight teeth. He still has the baby teeth in the spots where no adult teeth ever came in, and we’d like to hang on to them for as long as possible. Although the dentist has told us for years that there is no way they will last forever, and he will need to get implants at some point, this week’s lesson on vitamin K2 piqued my curiosity. Since K2 is so important for teeth and the structure of teeth, I wonder if it might be beneficial for him to take some, if only to help him hang on to his baby teeth for as long as possible. He lives away at college most of the year and does not eat very well, I’m sorry to say, and is not open to improving his diet while he is in college but is willing to take supplements.

Dr. Amy Nett: So this is really tricky. As you mentioned, there is research in terms of vitamin K supporting bone structure because the carboxylation that is associated with vitamin K2 allows for deposition of calcium into bones and teeth, so we largely think—you know, my understanding is that is how we think that vitamin K supports tooth structure. As far as I’m aware, the research is primarily around vitamin K2 in decreasing periodontal disease. It may be associated with decreased cavities and that sort of thing, but, you know, holding onto baby teeth a little bit longer, I have no idea. You could post that to the Facebook group because we do have some dentists and periodontists in the group, and they might be able to offer some additional information, but I honestly don’t know that vitamin K2 will prolong the duration for which baby teeth are still in place. I’m not even sure that there is any research on that, so maybe post that question to the Facebook group, and see if any of the dentists in the group can chime in and give us a little additional information on that. Sorry I’m not aware of any research there,