Coral Calcium

Question:

I just saw an infomercial touting a supplement called coral calcium. What do you think of this supplement?

Answer:

I am attaching three abstracts regarding Calcium Coral. Most of the research has been done on facial/maxillar bone graph with a reasonable rate of success. More studies need to done on the benefits of ingesting coral calcium versus calcium carbonate. It appears that there is a better ingestion of coral calcium added foods when compared to the regular calcium.

Good Luck!

Research Abstract #1

• Five year follow up of 16 patients treated with coralline calcium carbonate (BIOCORAL) bone replacement grafts in infrabony defects.
• Yukna RA, Yukna CN.
• Department of Periodontics, Louisiana State University School of Dentistry, New Orleans 70119, USA.

A resorbable coralline calcium carbonate graft material (BIOCORAL) (CalCarb) was evaluated as a bone replacement graft in human periodontal osseous defects. Following initial preparation and re-evaluation, flap surgery was carried out. Bone defects were curetted and root surfaces subjected to mechanical debridement and conditioning with tetracycline paste. The bone defects were grafted with CalCarb, and the host flaps replaced or slightly coronally positioned. Weekly, then monthly deplaquing was performed until surgical reentry at 6-12 months. Patients were then followed on approximate 3 month recalls for > or =5 years. Significant clinical changes included improvement in mean vertical clinical probing attachment level from 5.7 mm at surgery to 4.2 mm at re-entry to 4.0 mm at 5 years, decrease in mean probing pocket depth from 6.1 mm at surgery to 3.0 mm at re-entry to 3.3 mm at 5 years, and mean gingival recession from +0.4 mm at surgery to 1.0 mm at re-entry to 0.7 mm at 5 years (all at least p<0.05 from surgery to re-entry and surgery to 5 years, N.S. from reentry to 5 years via ANOVA). These favorable long-term results with CalCarb suggest that CalCarb may have a beneficial effect in the long-term clinical management of infrabony defects.

Research Abstract #2

• Calcium absorption from the ingestion of coral-derived calcium by humans.
• Ishitani K, Itakura E, Goto S, Esashi T.
• Higashi Sapporo Hospital, Japan

Recent dietary life involves frequent opportunities for the ingestion of purified, processed food products and preserved foods, and it has been pointed out that the current dietary mineral intake strongly tends toward nutritional imbalance. The Ryukyu Islands yield coral which contains calcium and magnesium in a content ratio of about 2 to 1, with their approximate contents of 20 and 10%, respectively. In this report, the calcium absorption from the ingestion of crackers into which the coral powder was incorporated (coral-added crackers) and that from ingestion of calcium carbonate-added crackers was comparatively assessed. Twelve healthy adult volunteers (6 men and 6 women) ingested coral-added crackers (calcium content: 525 mg) and calcium carbonate-added crackers (ditto) once each alternately on a cross-over design with a wash-out period of 3 d between the regimens. The study also included controls receiving neither cracker. The degree of intestinal absorption of calcium from coral-added crackers and that from calcium carbonate-added crackers was evaluated in terms of increment in urinary calcium excretion per dL of glomerular filtrate (GF) (difference between coral calcium and calcium carbonate) and increase in urinary calcium excretion per milligram creatinine (difference from control value). The increment in urinary calcium excretion per dL of GF during the latter half of the observation period after the ingestion of coral-added crackers was significantly greater than that during the latter half of the observation period after ingestion of calcium carbonate-added crackers (p = 0.039, paired t-test). A significant difference (from control value) in the increase of urinary calcium excretion per milligram creatinine was also observed (p = 0.0008). The present data, though from a relatively few study subjects, suggest that the calcium of coral origin is better absorbed from the intestine than calcium of calcium carbonate origin on the average

Research Abstract #2

• Natural coral calcium carbonate as alternative substitute in bone defects of the skull
• Soost F, Reisshauer B, Herrmann A, Neumann HJ.

A biomaterial derived from natural corals with surgical applications is the calcium carbonate Biocoral. Since 1992 the author has been using this material as a bone graft substitute in maxillofacial surgery. Eighty-nine clinical implantations were done in 68 patients for different indications. The results suggested that coral grafts are well tolerated and are simultaneously partially ossified as the calcified skeleton is resorbed. Clinical cases show that use of this material has been successful