Oral health and nutrition.

The relationships between oral health conditions, dietary practices and nutritional status, and general health status in the older American are complex, with many interrelating factors. Just as inadequate nutrition can affect oral health, poor oral health status affects food choices and, thus, nutritional status. It is clearly essential that the primary care practitioner and/or screening health professionals always include an evaluation of oral status in assessment of an elderly person. Effective care for the elderly dental patient requires knowledge about the disease of aging and the impact of those diseases on oral health and nutrition, pharmacology and drug interactions and their impact on oral health status, the biology of aging including sensory changes, the relationship of general medicine and systemic diseases, and psychology and sociology. The attitudes of empathy and understanding, caring and compassion, respect and a positive attitude toward the older patient, and flexibility in treatment planning are also critical elements. The interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, nutrition professionals, dentists, and social service professionals must all work together to ensure that good oral health status and adequate nutrition are maintained in older Americans. Recognizing and treating oral health and nutrition problems are important in improving the health and quality of life for the elderly population. Research that can provide more answers to health care problems in this growing group; educating professionals with respect to the relationships between oral health and nutrition; and public policy changes with regard to provision and funding of nutrition services, especially when provided by registered and/or licensed nutrition professionals, contribute to improving the health and quality of life for elders.

Measurement of the bioavailability of iron, using the rat hemoglobin repletion test.

Variations in the AOAC official first action rat hemoglobin repletion test for iron were studied. These changes included (1) use of a simplified basal diet to eliminate ingredients which sometimes contribute too much iron; (2) increased fortification of the basal diet with vitamin E, pantothenic acid, and pyridoxine; (3) increased dietary copper; (4) variations in the carbohydrate source in the basal diet; (5) changes in the length of the depletion and repletion periods; and (6) comparison of prophylactic and curative procedures. The changes yielded results comparable to those obtained with the present official method. Further study may reveal that the depletion period can be shortened or eliminated. To fully meet the rat's vitamin requirements, increased levels of vitamin E, pantothenic acid, and pyridoxine are recommended. It is further recommended that the present method remain in official first action status, and that study be continued.

Relationship between the biological availability and solubility rate of reduced iron.

Solubility rate determinations were conducted on electrolytic iron and hydrogen reduced iron and carbonyl iron samples to study the correlation of biological availability and solubility. There was excellent correlation for the hydrogen reduced iron and electrolytic iron samples,. The carbonyl iron samples showed a direct relationship between solubility and bioavailability, but these data were not numerically equivalent to data from other types.

Estimation of the bioavailability of iron.

Eight laboratories conducted a test for the estimation of the bioavailability of iron from 4 sources, using depleted male albino rats. Ferrous sulfate was used as the reference standard. Ferric orthophosphate was found to have a relative biological value of 11 (range 6-22), an old sample of hydrogen-reduced iron 27 (range 15-41), and ferric citrate 96 (range 75-125). Good results were obtained with a simplified basal diet prepared without ingredients that had previously contributed variable quantities of iron. There was no apparent advantage in using the change in hemoglobin during the repletion period instead of the final homoglobin value as the criterion of response to iron supplements. Several statistical treatments of the data yielded similar conclusions regarding relative biological values of the iron sources.