Oral complaints related to menopause

The purpose of the present study was to correlate oral and systemic symptoms of menopause and the oral health and salivary composition and flow rate in a group of women in menopause prior to hormone replacement therapy.

One-hundred fifty-four women attending a menopause clinic were divided into two groups. Group A, 58 women, without any systemic disease or treatments, and Group B,96 women with diseases and on various medications. They answered a questionnaire on their general health and oral and systemic complaints related to menopause. Fifty-four of the women agreed to have an oral examination and saliva analysis. Whole resting and submandibular (SM-SL) stimulated saliva were analyzed.

The oral discomfort complaint was found in 45% in Group A and in 60% in Group B. 74% complained of climacteric symptoms in Group A and 63% in Group B. The odds ratio (OR) between oral discomfort and climacterics complaints of menopause was 8.03 in Group A and 4.08 in Group B. The salivary composition and flow rates did not differ significantly between the groups of menopausal women. However the salivary total protein and IgA concentrations were significantly higher in comparison to healthy young controls.

The present study reports a high prevalence of oral discomfort in the women attending a menopause clinic. A highly significant odds ratio between systemic and oral complaints of menopause was found. The significantly altered salivary composition in these women might point to sympathetic activation due to psychological stress.