Effect of estrogen supplementation on periodontal disease

This article presents evidence of the protective role of estrogen supplementation on periodontal disease in postmenopausal women. A total of 412 women, 236 postmenopausal (50 to 75 years old) and 176 premenopausal (25 to 49 years old), were included in this study. The postmenopausal group included 59 women receiving estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) and 177 who did not receive ERT (non-ERT). Periodontal disease was assessed from two independent but highly correlated measures: clinical attachment loss (CAL) and alveolar bone loss (ABL). Severe periodontal disease was arbitrarily defined as mean CAL or ABL > or = 3 mm. Data adjusted for age effect were compared for various groups of premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Non-ERT women were twice as likely as their ERT counterparts, and three times more likely than premenopausal women, to exhibit severe attachment loss. Individual percentages of women affected by severe attachment loss were 18.6%, 11.9%, and 6.3% for non-ERT, ERT, and premenopausal women, respectively. On the other hand, severe ABL was detected in 34%, 20.3%, and 9.7% of the non-ERT, postmenopausal ERT, and premenopausal women, respectively. Similar to CAL, when ABL was used as a measure of disease, almost twice as many non-ERT women compared to their ERT counterparts and four times compared to premenopausal women exhibited severe ABL. Therefore, ERT appears to have a protective effect on the severity of periodontal disease and the periodontium.