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Physicians do not deal with oral health, since this is traditionally accepted as the domain of dentists. But the mouth is obviously an important organ since people eat, talk and kiss with it. People usually think of oral health in connection with esthetics: how the teeth and smile look, how the lips look, or whether there is some malodorous breath. Are there any specific associations between menopause-related issues and oral health? Suri and Suri recently published an interesting review on oral health and menopause, in which they outlined the various relevant entities, such as the oral mucosa, the salivary glands and periodontal health, and the physiological alterations attributed to menopause [1]. During the menopause, women go through biological and endocrine changes, particularly in their production of sex steroid hormones, affecting their health. Because the oral mucosa contains estrogen receptors, variations in hormone levels directly affect the oral cavity. Suri and Suri claimed that there is a paucity of randomized controlled trials in this field and more data are needed, before the recommendations for oral health care in postmenopausal women can be made.

Author(s)

  • Amos Pines
    Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Citations

  1. Suri V, Suri V. Menopause and oral health. J Midlife Health 2014;5:115-20
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25316996
  2. Wardrop RW, Hailes J, Burger H, Reade PC. Oral discomfort at menopause. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 1989;67:535-40
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2497421
  3. Ben Aryeh H, Gottlieb I, Ish-Shalom S, et al. Oral complaints related to menopause. Maturitas 1996;24:185-9
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8844632
  4. Meurman JH, Tarkkila L, Tiitinen A. The menopause and oral health. Maturitas 2009;63:56-62
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19324502
  5. Dutt P, Chaudhary S, Kumar P. Oral health and menopause: a comprehensive review on current knowledge and associated dental management. Ann Med Health Sci Res 2013;3:320-3
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24116306
  6. Friedlander AH. The physiology, medical management and oral implications of menopause. J Am Dent Assoc 2002;133:73-81
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11811747
  7. Mutneja P, Dhawan P, Raina A, Sharma G. Menopause and the oral cavity. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2012;16:548-51
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22837914
  8. Volpe A, Lucenti V, Forabosco A, et al. Oral discomfort and hormone replacement therapy in the post-menopause. Maturitas 1991;13:1-5
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1861638
  9. Tarkkila L, Linna M, Tiitinen A, Lindqvist C, Meurman JH. Oral symptoms at menopause the role of hormone replacement therapy. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2001;92:276-80
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11552144
  10. Tarkkila L, Furuholm J, Tiitinen A, Meurman JH. Oral health in perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women from baseline to 2 years of follow-up with reference to hormone replacement therapy. Clin Oral Investig 2008;12:271-7
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18299902
  11. LaMonte MJ, Hovey KM, Genco RJ,et al. Five-year changes in periodontal disease measures among postmenopausal females: the Buffalo OsteoPerio study. J Periodontol 2013;84:572-84
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22813344
  12. Covington P. Womens oral health issues: an exploration of the literature. Probe 1996;30:173-7
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9610337
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