List of Chapters

Vitamin D Testing in Clinical Settings: Methodologies, Accuracy and Standardization


Author(s): Fakhri B Saida; Chong Yuan*

Vitamin D is a group of liposoluble 9,10-secosteroids that includes vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) [1]. In humans, vitamin D2 is acquired from food and vitamin supplements whereas vitamin D3 is synthesized by the skin. Both vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 are hydroxylated in the liver to produce 25-OH vitamin D which is further hydroxylated in the kidneys to produce 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D [2]. Whereas 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D is the physiologically active form of vitamin D, 25-OH vitamin D (the total amount of 25-OH vitamin D2 and 25-OH vitamin D3, also known as total 25-OH vitamin D) is the marker of the overall vitamin D status of a patient [3]. Vitamin D-related scientific research grew exponentially in the past few years, reaching more than 4000 yearly scientific publications since 2012...

Vitamin D Deficiency in Implant Dentistry: Link to Early Implant Failure and Biomaterial-Related Complications


Author(s): Richard J Miron*, Ana Paz, Valerie Kanter, Miguel Stanley, Mark Bishara, Yufeng Zhang, Carlos Fernando Mourao

Dental implants are generally considered a safe and highly predictable surgical procedure performed by many dental surgeons with the aim of replacing missing teeth. Yet to this day, a number of implants are lost every year for yet explained reasons. Dental implants remain one of the only transmucosal implant utilized in medicine; meaning they integrate directly into bone (a phenomenon called osseointegration) yet span into the oral cavity through transmucosal tissues...