Calcium Supplements for Teeth: Do They Really Help?

Brushing our teeth…is the only time we clean our skeleton.

It sounds strange, but it’s true.

Even though we rarely think of our teeth as part of our skeletal system, they are.

And every time we smile for the camera, we’re flashing a little bit of our skeleton. They are the only visible and exposed bones in our body.

Except, here’s the other thing…

Despite being part of our skeleton, teeth aren’t actually bones.

Teeth are made of enamel and dentin, bones are made of collagen and calcium phosphate. Teeth cannot heal and regenerate whereas bones can adapt to stress and heal over time.

One thing they do both have in common, is their need for calcium.

In this article, we’ll look at how calcium plays a role in dental health, whether supplements can actually make a difference, and what you should know if you’re considering calcium for your teeth.

Key Takeaways

• Teeth, like bones, need calcium.
• 95% of tooth enamel is made up of calcium and phosphorous. To maintain a robust structure to our enamel, calcium levels need topping up.
• Once enamel is damaged, it can't regenerate. Maintaining calcium levels is one way to look after our teeth.
• Calcium also helps balance pH levels in the mouth. Enamel erosion can be caused by acidic foods and drinks. Calcium helps buffer acid in the mouth.
• Calcium remineralizes and effectively 'patches up' weakened areas on the enamel surface.
• Calcium supports bone health, and therefore supports our jawbone—the 'bedrock' for our teeth.
• Most of us should be able to get enough calcium through diet. Milk, cheese, leafy greens, beans, and fortified plant milk are all good sources.
• Age, dietary preference, food intolerances, and inhibitors such as salt, caffeine, and oxalates found in spinach, nuts, and beans may lead to a lower calcium intake.
• In those cases, supplements can help. Pairing calcium with vitamin D, K2, and magnesium can optimize calcium absorption and direct it to your bones and teeth, rather than accumulating in soft tissue.
• To keep calcium topped up, Performance Lab® Calcium offers 300mg per serving split between 3 capsules, meaning you can adjust your dose as needed to fit your dietary intake. Take 1, 2, or all 3 when needed.
• To naturally boost calcium absorption in your diet, Performance Lab® D3 + K2 is your go-to supplement. D3 is 87% more potent than D2 (found in many fortified foods). Our NutriGenesis® K2 is a highly absorbable form that helps direct that calcium intake exactly where it's needed—to your teeth and bones.

The Role of Calcium in Teeth Health

So, how exactly does calcium work to keep our teeth healthy?

Calcium Helps Maintain Tooth Enamel

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body. It’s harder than bones and it’s harder than steel.

In fact it ranks at number 5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.

For context, diamonds—the strongest substance on earth—ranks 10 on this scale, and gold comes in around 2.5 (which means getting a gold tooth, is actually a downgrade).

Enamel is the hard outermost layer of a tooth. It covers the visible part of the tooth (the crown) and protects the softer inner layers. Its purpose is to guard against daily wear and tear, acid erosion and help with temperature sensitivity.

The problem with teeth, and the reason they need looking after, is because they don’t heal or remodel themselves like bones. Which is why it’s so important to look after our enamel.

Once it’s gone, it can’t regenerate.

And without it, teeth are vulnerable to decay, sensitivity and injury.

Where does calcium come in? Roughly 95% of enamel is made up of a calcium and phosphorous mix. So keeping calcium levels up, helps maintain this mineral rich structure.

How to maintain tooth enamel:

• Get Enough Calcium: Eating calcium-rich foods like dairy, leafy greens, and fortified products helps keep your body’s calcium levels steady, providing minerals to support enamel integrity.
• Brush Gently with a Soft-Bristled Toothbrush: Overly aggressive brushing can wear down enamel. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and brush gently to clean without causing unnecessary abrasion.
• Use Fluoride Toothpaste: Fluoride strengthens enamel by helping it retain minerals, making it more resistant to acid erosion. Brush twice daily with fluoride toothpaste for maximum benefit.
• Avoid Frequent Snacking on Sugary Foods: Sugary snacks feed bacteria in the mouth, leading to acid production that can demineralize enamel. Reduce snacking between meals, and opt for lower-sugar options when possible.
• Limit Acidic Foods and Drinks: Try to reduce your intake of acidic items like citrus, soda, and vinegar-based foods, which can soften enamel over time. Rinse your mouth with water after consuming acidic foods to neutralize acidity.
• Stay Hydrated: Drinking water throughout the day helps keep saliva flowing, which naturally protects enamel by washing away acids and providing minerals. More on that coming up.

Calcium Helps Neutralize Acid in The Mouth

The first step in protecting enamel from erosion and decay, is balancing the pH level in our mouth.

But acidity in food and drink is everywhere. And can be quite hard to avoid.

On one hand you have the usual suspects: alcohol, fizzy drinks, sour candies and processed foods. But on the other, you have fruit juices, citrus fruits, coffee and tomatoes.

When we eat these, the pH in the mouth drops. This makes it easier for acids to dissolve minerals from enamel.

Saliva contains bicarbonate and other alkaline compounds to buffer acids¹. Which brings the mouth’s pH closer to neutral.

Steps to help control our salivary pH:

• Avoid or Limit Acidic Beverages: Cut back on drinks like fruit juice, alcohol, sodas, and coffee, which can all lower the pH in your mouth and encourage acid erosion.
• Rinse Your Mouth with Water: After eating or drinking, a quick rinse with water helps to neutralize acids, clearing away residue before it can damage enamel.
• Chew Sugarless Gum: Chewing sugarless gum stimulates saliva flow, which washes away acids and naturally buffers your mouth’s pH back toward neutral.
• Choose Calcium-Rich Snacks: Milk, cheese, and other calcium-rich foods can help balance pH and deliver minerals that support enamel strength.

Taking these steps can help protect enamel but they don’t actively restore it.

To keep teeth strong and healthy, we need to replenish the minerals that acids have washed away. This is where remineralization comes in.

Calcium Supports Remineralization of Enamel

Remineralization is the natural repair process that restores minerals in enamel, keeping it hard and resilient.

Over time, acids from food, drinks, and bacterial activity can strip minerals like calcium and phosphate from enamel. These losses leave small, weakened areas that are vulnerable to decay.

Remineralization fills in tiny weakened areas on the enamel surface, effectively “patching up” the enamel to keep it strong.

Calcium, especially when combined with phosphate and fluoride², binds to the tooth’s surface. It helps rebuild weakened areas to make teeth more resistant to future wear and tear.

Steps to promote enamel remineralization:

• Use Fluoride Toothpaste: Fluoride helps calcium and phosphate bond more effectively with enamel, making it a key player in the remineralization process. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste to maximize protection.
• Consume Calcium-Rich Foods: Eating foods high in calcium, like dairy products, leafy greens, and almonds, ensures your saliva is loaded with the minerals needed to replenish enamel.
• Limit Sugary and Acidic Foods: Reducing foods and drinks that contribute to acid erosion (like sweets, sodas, and citrus) lowers the rate of mineral loss from enamel and gives remineralization a better chance.
• Stay Hydrated: Drinking water throughout the day helps maintain saliva flow, which is essential for natural remineralization. Saliva carries calcium and phosphate to the tooth surface, supporting enamel repair.
• Chew Sugarless Gum: Sugarless gum promotes saliva production, naturally boosting the supply of minerals to your teeth for enhanced remineralization.

Calcium Helps Maintain Jawbone Stability

Holding everything together, of course, is our jawbone.

The jawbone (or alveolar bone) forms the “bedrock” for our teeth, anchoring them in place.

It’s responsible for supporting the tooth root and giving us the stability we need for everything from biting into an apple to chewing tough foods. And just like the rest of our skeletal system, the jawbone needs a steady supply of calcium to stay dense, resilient, and ready for action.

Calcium combines with phosphorus in the jawbone to create hydroxyapatite, a mineral compound that provides bone density and strength. This dense, calcium-rich structure keeps the jawbone tough and resistant to the kind of wear and tear that comes with years of chewing, grinding, and biting.

When our diet lacks sufficient calcium, the body starts pulling calcium from bones, including the jaw, to maintain essential blood calcium levels. This process, called bone resorption, can weaken the jawbone over time, which can lead to loose teeth and an increased risk of tooth loss—think of it as a slow erosion of the jawbone’s stability.

How to Look After Your Jawbone:

• Get Enough Calcium: Include calcium-rich foods in your diet.
• Support with Vitamin D: Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium effectively. Without it, even the most calcium-rich diet won’t fully benefit the jawbone.
• Avoid Smoking: Smoking has been shown to reduce bone density and increase the risk of gum disease, which can harm the jawbone and surrounding structures.
• Practice Good Oral Hygiene: Keeping gums healthy protects the jawbone by reducing the risk of infection and gum disease, which can lead to bone loss.

How to Get Enough Calcium in Your Diet

As a general rule, most adults need between 700mg-1200mg of calcium per day from diet. But what does that look like in food terms? While amounts can vary depending on the specific product, variety, and preparation method, here are some approximations:

Dairy Foods

• Milk (1 cup): Approximately 250mg of calcium
• Yogurt (1 cup): Roughly 200-300mg, depending on type
• Cheese (1 oz): About 200mg; hard cheeses like cheddar are particularly rich in calcium

Plant-Based Sources

• Leafy Greens: One cup of steamed broccoli has about 50mg of calcium, while collard greens offer around 250mg.
• Nuts & Seeds: 10 whole almonds provide around 50mg, and 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds packs in 100mg.
• Fortified Plant Milks: Many almond, soy, and oat milks are fortified, often adding 250mg per cup, similar to cow’s milk.
• Tofu: Certain tofu varieties, especially those made with calcium sulfate, can contain up to 200mg per half-cup.
• Beans & Lentils: Kidney beans (70g) provide about 50mg, and other beans and lentils contain varying levels.

Learn more about vegan sources of calcium

Factors Impacting Your Calcium Intake

Most of us should find it relatively easy to get the calcium we need from diet alone. However, individual factors like age, dietary choices, and even certain substances can influence how much calcium you’re actually getting and absorbing.

1. Age: As we age, our calcium needs can increase. Postmenopausal women, for example, may need more calcium to counteract bone density loss. In these cases, diets that consistently provide the higher end of the calcium range (around 1200mg) are often recommended.
2. Dietary Preferences and Intolerances: Vegan or Dairy-Free Diets: Those who avoid dairy need to pay particular attention to calcium intake. While plant-based sources and fortified foods can provide plenty, it may require conscious planning. Lactose Intolerance: Individuals with lactose intolerance might still tolerate certain dairy foods, like hard cheeses and yogurt, which contain less lactose. For those avoiding dairy entirely, fortified plant milks and leafy greens can help bridge the gap.
3. Calcium Absorption and Inhibitors: Oxalates and Phytates: Found in foods like spinach, beet greens, nuts, and beans, oxalates and phytates can bind with calcium, making it harder to absorb. For example, while spinach is high in calcium, its oxalate content reduces how much calcium the body can actually use. Including a variety of lower-oxalate greens like kale and collards helps optimize calcium intake. Salt and Caffeine: Excessive salt and caffeine can increase calcium excretion, meaning more calcium is lost through urine. If you’re aiming to boost calcium levels, reducing high-sodium foods and limiting caffeine can make a difference.

For many people, adding a few servings of calcium-rich foods each day is enough to keep levels where they need to be.

But calcium isn’t the whole story.

It’s also crucial to ensure you’re getting the right nutrients to aid in calcium absorption.

In the next section, we’ll dive into the vitamins and minerals—like Vitamin D and K2—that can maximize calcium uptake, ensuring you get the full benefit of the calcium in your diet.

Nutrients That Support Calcium Absorption and Oral Health

While calcium is a cornerstone of bone and dental health, it doesn’t act alone.

Several key nutrients help ensure that calcium is effectively absorbed and directed to the right places in the body—your teeth and bones.

Here’s a look at the supplements and nutrients that play essential supporting roles.

1. Vitamin D: The Calcium Absorption Booster

Vitamin D is crucial for calcium absorption in the gut.

Without adequate vitamin D, much of the calcium you consume could go to waste, never making it to your bones or teeth. Vitamin D works by increasing the efficiency of calcium uptake, which can improve overall bone density and enamel strength.

How to Get Vitamin D:

• Sunlight : About 10-30 minutes of midday sunlight can help your body produce vitamin D, though factors like skin type and geographic location play a role.
• Foods : Fatty fish (like salmon), egg yolks, and fortified foods like milk or cereals.
• Supplements: Vitamin D3 supplements are often recommended, especially in regions with limited sunlight.

2. Vitamin K2: The Calcium Director

Vitamin K2 works in tandem with calcium by directing it to the right places, such as your bones and teeth, while preventing it from accumulating in soft tissues like arteries. In the jawbone, K2 helps stimulate bone-building cells, supporting tooth stability and jaw health.

How to Get Vitamin K2:

• Foods: Found in fermented foods like natto (fermented soybeans) and some animal products, like cheese and egg yolks.
• Supplements: K2 supplements, often paired with D3, are available and can be particularly helpful if these foods aren’t a regular part of your diet.

3. Magnesium: The Calcium Balance Keeper

Magnesium is sometimes called “nature’s relaxant,” but it’s also essential for bone health, helping balance calcium in the body.

It plays a role in both calcium absorption and preventing excessive calcium build up in soft tissues like arteries and muscles. Low magnesium levels can lead to an imbalance, impacting both bone density and tooth strength.

How to Get Magnesium:

• Foods: Leafy greens (like spinach), nuts (especially almonds and cashews), seeds, and whole grains.
• Supplements: Magnesium supplements are available in forms like magnesium glycinate, citrate, and oxide, each with slightly different benefits.

4. Phosphorus: A Building Block for Teeth

Phosphorus is another mineral that works with calcium to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. It combines with calcium to form hydroxyapatite, the mineral complex that gives bones and enamel their strength and resilience.

How to Get Phosphorus:

• Foods: High-protein foods like meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, nuts, and legumes.
• Supplement Considerations: Phosphorus deficiency is rare in well-balanced diets, so supplementation is usually unnecessary unless specifically advised by a healthcare provider.

Putting It All Together

These nutrients, in combination with calcium, form a powerhouse team for maintaining strong teeth and jawbone health. To make the most of calcium, ensure your diet or supplements include these supporting players. Not only will they help with calcium uptake, but they’ll also contribute to the overall health and resilience of your teeth.

Do Calcium Supplements Really Work for Teeth?

Can calcium supplements support oral health? Absolutely.

Can supplements reduce tooth loss? One study showed that calcium and vitamin D taken to prevent osteoporosis did have a beneficial effect on tooth retention³. But like most things, the answer depends on individual needs, circumstances, oral health routine and lifestyle.

A calcium deficiency can cause bones to weaken and become more brittle. Which in turn may affect the jawbone and teeth enamel.

For most though, dietary calcium is usually sufficient to meet daily needs.

However, certain groups——like older adults, postmenopausal women, and those with dietary restrictions or a lactose intolerance—may find it challenging to meet their calcium needs through food alone. In these cases, supplements can help bridge the gap and support stronger, healthier teeth.

Performance Lab® Calcium

Performance Lab® Calcium is formulated with flexibility in mind, offering 300mg per serving (3 capsules).

The relatively low dose allows you to “top up” your calcium intake, helping those who may need a little extra support without overloading on calcium. This approach is particularly helpful for those in higher-need groups, like older adults, postmenopausal women, or those on dairy-free diets.

You also have the option to tailor your dose. Making it an adaptable choice for different dietary situations.

And because it’s free from common allergens and uses plant-based sources, it’s suitable for most dietary preferences.

Shop Performance Lab® Calcium

Performance Lab® NutriGenesis® Multivitamin

Our NutriGenesis® multivitamin has been formulated to support a calcium-rich diet.

It includes vitamin D3, vitamin K and magnesium, which are all nutrients that aid in calcium absorption and bone health. This one is a great choice for those who may already get enough calcium from food but want to ensure they’re supporting natural calcium utilization effectively.

Learn more about what NutriGenesis® is.

Shop Performance Lab® NutriGenesis®

Performance Lab® D3 + K2

For those specifically looking to support calcium absorption and bone health, Performance Lab® D3 + K2 supplement combines plant-based vitamin D3 and the highly absorbable K2 form, which helps direct calcium to bones and teeth.

The D3 in our formula is 87% more potent than the D2 type found in many fortified foods, and its liposomal form ensures faster and more efficient absorption.

This supplement is ideal for maximizing the benefits of dietary calcium and protecting overall skeletal health.

Shop Performance Lab® D3+K2

Bottom Line

While calcium supplements are helpful for those who need them, they’re best used as part of a balanced diet.

For most, supplements can be a convenient way to fill gaps or meet higher calcium needs without relying entirely on dietary sources. Paired with the right supporting nutrients like D3, K2, and magnesium, calcium supplements can help ensure your teeth and bones get the care they deserve.

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