Osteoporosis and periodontal disease in menopause

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is not associated with increased periodontitis, according to results of a small study by European researchers. It is, however, significantly associated with tooth loss, suggesting a need for preventive dental care in postmenopausal patients with osteoporosis.

Published in The Journal of Periodontology, the conclusions are drawn from an observational cross-sectional study of 76 postmenopausal women. The participants underwent dental examinations and sampling for microbiological evaluation and a history of osteoporosis or osteopenia was collected. The researchers used polymerase chain reaction to detect oral bacteria associated with periodontal disease. Statistical significance was defined as P<0.05.

Periodontitis was detected in 77.1% of the women who had osteoporosis/osteopenia (P>0.05) Osteoporosis was significantly correlated with missing teeth. All of the samples contained T. forsythia and C. Rectus, 98.7% contained F. nucleatum and P. gingivalis, and 73.7% contained A. actinomycetemcomitans.