International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Women who have gone through the menopause should be having dental health check-ups more than twice a year, new research has suggested.

Researchers from the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic in the US looked at the long-term impact of bone-strengthening bisphosphonate therapies on the jawbone.

In a small-scale study, 28 post-menopausal women with normal bones were compared to 28 who had undergone bisphosphonate therapies for two or more years.

While both groups of women had similar bone health results, those who had undergone the oral therapies showed no signs of bone death, but they had abnormal dental plaque.

Post-menopausal women need to see a dentist up to four times a year, the researchers recommended.

They warned untreated build-up of plaque could counter the benefits of bone-strengthening therapies.

A recent US study by researchers at the HealthPartners Research Foundation in Minneapolis found post-menopausal women who smoke, or used to, have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Posted by Paul Robertson