Women are more prone to oral health problems due to the different hormonal changes that they undergo during their lifetime. Hormones in women don’t only affect their oral by affecting the blood supply to the gum tissues, but also because of harmful toxins by the plaque.
Due to these types of changes, women are more vulnerable to periodontal diseases that occur at certain stages of their lives.
What Are the Situations That Put Women at a Stage Where There are Risks Related to Oral Health Problems?
According to the World Health Organization, it is found that there are five sets of specific situations that fluctuate the level of hormonal imbalances in women and even make them more susceptible to oral health problems.
It happens more often during the monthly menstrual cycle. Most women consume birth control pills while getting intimate with their partners without the advice of a gynecologist and suffer from oral problems later.
If the right type of medication isn’t available at the time of pregnancy, then there is a probability that her oral-health might deteriorate with time.
Menopause is another stage in her life when the menstrual cycle comes to a halt due to the natural depletion of ovarian oocytes because of aging. It has been diagnosed that after a woman experiences to miss her menses for 12 consecutive months. The menopause has also been connected with potential oral health diseases.
Puberty
It is a phase that comes in every girl’s life where she experiences a spectrum of changes in her body, and in her first period, she is advised by her mother to consume foods that are less tangy and spicy. During puberty, the production of female hormones like estrogen and progesterone increase the blood flow to the gums, and often change the way gum tissues react to irritants in plaque. It causes the gum tissue to become red and tender, and this is the reason why women experience bleeding while brushing and flossing.
Monthly Menstrual Cycles
Women face hormonal changes way early in their life due to the increase in the production of progesterone that occurs during the menstrual cycle. Whereas some women experience oral changes that consist of swollen gums and salivary glands, there can also be a development of canker sores.
In some women, menstruation gingivitis generally happens a day before the onset of the period and straightens out after the period starts.
Usage of Birth Control Pills
Sometimes women do experience inflamed gum tissues that occur because of the body’s exaggerated reactions to the toxins that are produced directly due to plaque. Women who consume birth control pills that contain high-concentrated progesterone increase the hormone level in their body.
Thus, it is quite essential for women who often consume birth-control pills to consult a dentist because the more secure their oral health becomes, the lesser issues related to their health and future child will be.
Pregnancy
It is one such phase in a woman’s life where hormone levels change considerably.
It happens because of the constant increase in the levels of progesterone, which as a result surges the diseases related to the gums.
From the duration of the second month of pregnancy to the eighth month, most women suffer from pregnancy gingivitis. Thus, proper consultation with the reputed dentist becomes the need because frequent professional cleanings of their teeth reduce the chances of developing gingivitis.
Menopause
A woman in her late forties does witness the missing of her timely periods, and at that stage, she bears the menopause. It is the period where she faces several oral changes that arise owing to her advanced age. Due to which they consume medication that is low in the concentrations of harmful acids, that seldom advance the hormonal imbalances.
There are times when women experience oral changes that include altered taste, burning sensations in the mouth, increase sensitivity to hot and cold foods, and decreased salivary flow that further results in dry mouth.
Apart from feeling unpleasant at times, many women often experience dryness in their mouth that is propounded by teeth decaying as well as gum disease.
Why Does Dryness Happen During Menopause?
It is because of the less availability of salvia fluids propelling inactivity of less moistening and least neutralization of acids produced by plaque which catapults dryness in the mouth. Perhaps this is the reason why women above their 40s should not consume counter-effective medicines.
This goes to show that women need to take care of their oral health in different measures at the different stages of their lives. And that any subsequent changes in their hormones have a direct impact on their oral health.
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