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A Lingual Vitamin C Test: VIII. Vitamin C State in a Dental Prepayment Program
Published in the International Journal for Vitamin Research, Vol. 38, Nos. 3 and 4, 1968.
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Summary: The nonfasting lingual vitamin C test scores were determined in 1305 employees in the culinary industry and in 762 child dependents of employees in the retail clerks industry. Utilizing physiologic standard of less than 20 seconds, 51 per cent of the group show scores which can be regarded as marginally suboptimal and 21 per cent of the sample display values consistent with an ascorbic acid deficiency.
Introduction
Early reports in this series demonstrated the constancy and reproducibility of the lingual vitamin C test1,2 the relationship of this test procedure to plasma ascorbic acid level,3 intradermal time,4 dietary intake of ascorbic acid,5 and changes in the test scores following vitamin C supplementation.6 The last in this series7 demonstrated a correlation between the nonfasting serum cholesterol and nonfasting lingual time. This report is designed to analyse the range of scores encountered in routine dental patients in a dental prepayment program.
Method of Investigation
Two thousand sixty-seven subjects participated in this experiment. The lingual test was performed as previously described1 in 1305 members and dependents of six unions affiliated with the culinary industry in metropolitan Los Angeles. These workers include cooks, waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc. The remaining 762 participants were children of members of Retail Clerks Local 770 in Los Angeles.
Results
Table 1 summarizes the results. It will be observed that, for the entire sample, the mean and standard deviation is 29.0 ± 14.0 seconds. Thus, two-thirds of the sample ranges from 15 to 43 seconds. The majority of subjects (51 per cent) showed lingual times of approximately 20 to 39 seconds. The rest of the scores were almost equally dispersed between short times (0-19 seconds) and relatively long times (40+ seconds).
Table 1: Lingual vitamin C scores.
Discussion
Earlier reports8,9 have indicated that the physiologic range is approximately 15 to 20 seconds with a maximal limit of 25 seconds. Utilizing this criterion, it would appear that about one in four subjects demonstrated a definitely physiologic score, one-half a marginal value, and one in five a definitely abnormal response.
We wish to take this opportunity to thank Doctors Eugene M. Coven, Stanley J. Schwartz, Donald G. MacQueen, and Clem Wood for the collection of these data.
References Cited:
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. 38, 114 (1968).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. 38, 118 (1968).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. 38, 12 0 (1968).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. 38, 123 (1968).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. 38, 254 (1968).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. 38, 257 (1968).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: Internat. J. Vit. Res. (this issue).
- Cheraskin, E. and Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr.: J. South. California Dent. Assn. 32, 375 (1964).
- Ringsdorf, W. M., Jr. and Cheraskin, E.: Odontologisk Revy 14, 23 (1963).