Women And Gum Disease

[sushantpatel_doc]

The health needs of women are unique, and sometimes extra care has to be taken by woman when they change in terms of maturity, and when special health needs like menstruation and pregnancy require them to take extra oral care of themselves. Women are more affected by periodontal (gum) diseases, and the varying hormonal changes in a woman’s body make it more prone towards gum diseases and oral and throat cancer.
According to a study on woman’s oral diseases, statistics show that normally females brush their teeth 1.9 times a day, losing 5.4 teeth when they reach the age of 72, whereas, a smoking woman may lose 12 teeth by reaching the age of 72 years.

Periodontal Disease
Periodontal diseases are caused by the plaque ( a sticky, colourless substance on the teeth which escapes from toothbrush and gets harden into ‘tartar’ ) containing bacteria and toxins which not only infect the tissues but also destroy the bone that supports the teeth. Tobacco, genetics, medications, bad hygiene and other diseases may be the reason of periodontal diseases.

Hormones and Gum Disease
The hormonal variations in a woman’s body may not only result into mood or health change but also they can be a cause of changed gum health in the following ways.
• In puberty, the increased level of sex hormones in a woman’s body results in increased blood circulation towards the gums, which can aggravate the gum’s sensitivity and its reactivity towards any change in the current health state of teeth such as plaque or leftover food particles action.
• In menstruation, the increased sensitivity of the gums may result into bleeding, swollen or red gums
• Pregnant women may also experience pregnancy gingivitis, i.e., swelled, bleeding, tendered or bright red gums tissues. If pregnancy gingivitis grows more, it can turn into tumour which is generally painless, but if it stays longer, it is removed by the periodontist.
• A menopausal woman may be a victim of mouth dryness, pain in the gum tissue and change of taste.

What Can You Do?
All those women who are noticing changes in their mouths following the hormonal changes must take extra periodontal care and take good oral hygiene throughout the period of their hormonal fluctuation.
Twice-daily thorough brushing and daily flossing between teeth help in fighting bacteria and prevents the plaque to make place between the teeth.
A yearly or bi-yearly professional dental check-up helps in repelling periodontal diseases.
Your dental professional should be kept informed about any medication or drug you are taking to decrease bacteria or plaque growth in your mouth.

To top it all, a healthy smile on a woman’s face can make it look even more beautiful than it actually is, and this can be brought by taking due care of the teeth’s health and taking every possible preventive measure to protect the gums and teeth from being infected by periodontal diseases.

        

[Drsumitra]

Women, keep those toothbrushes and dental floss handy. A comprehensive review of women’s health studies by Charlene Krejci, associate clinical professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, has shown a link between women’s health issues and gum disease.

Across the ages, hormonal changes take place during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause. Krejci found female hormones that fluctuate throughout women’s lives can change conditions in the mouth that allow bacteria to grow, enter the blood, and exacerbate certain health issues like bone loss, fetal death and pre-term births.

Her overview of the literature was reported in the article, "Women’s Health: Periodontitis and its Relation to Hormonal Changes, Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and Osteoporosis" in the May issue of Oral Health and Preventive Dentistry.

The Case Western Reserve University periodontist reviewed 61 journal articles with nearly 100 studies for a collective answer on whether hormones have a relationship to gum disease and specific women’s health issues like preterm labor, bone loss, and the side effect of hormonal replacement therapy.

"There’s definitely a gender-specific connection between women’s hormones, gum disease, and specific health issues impacting women," Krejci said.

"Although women tend to take better care of their oral health than men, the main message is women need to be even more vigilant about maintaining healthy teeth and gums to prevent or lessen the severity of some of women-specific health issues," Krejci said.

In addition to the brushing and flossing daily regimen, Krejci recommends visiting the dentist at least every six months, and more if there are any gum problems found or women suffer from bone loss or are pregnant.

She added that it is widely known that hormones cause some women gum problems during pregnancy. Women already susceptible to gum disease before being pregnant, she advises, need to make sure that these oral problems are treated.

Although women were once discouraged from seeing the dentist while pregnant, she said that scaling and planing of the roots of teeth to eliminate some gum disease is now recommended during pregnancy for women. Severe gum disease requiring surgery is still generally postponed until after the baby’s birth.

Gum disease begins with the build up of bacterial plaque on the teeth and under the gums. Untreated it can cause irritation and inflammation during which harmful and toxic byproducts are released. These toxins erode the bone that anchors teeth and cause breaks and bleeding in the gums.

 

        

[Author]

Posts