Ascorbic Acid Plasma Levels and Gingival Health in Personnel Wintering Over in Antarctica

¹ Dental Branch, U.S. Naval Medical Research Laboratory, U.S.N. Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut

A report is presented of the dental research program conducted at Little America V, Antarctica, during the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58. The program was initiated to study blood elements and their possible relationship to the etiology of cold-weather oral-health problems. The blood studies conducted are listed. This paper reports the relationship of one of the blood components—ascorbic acid plasma levels to gingival tissue health. Twenty-six men, thirteen outdoor workers and thirteen indoor workers, were the subjects of the study. Determinations of the ascorbic acid plasma levels of these men revealed a significant difference between the indoor and outdoor groups. The gingival tissue health was evaluated by observations of the relative degrees of gingival inflammation presented by the subjects of both groups, and it was found that no significant differences existed in the gingival tissue health between the groups. Several possible explanations are suggested for the lack of correlation between the ascorbic acid plasma levels and the gingival tissue health.