Association of Oral Health Status with Hormonal Changes using Spectrum of Oral Exfoliative Cytology in Premenopausal and Early Post Menopausal Women

Menopause is a phase of physiological alteration in women that leads to changes in both systemic and oral health. Buccal smears were collected from 28 premenopausal women and 28 early postmenopausal women who visited the outpatient Department of Oral medicine and radiology of our college. The Oral changes were observed and the patients were asked about complaints of their menstrual history, dry mouth, systemic conditions, signs of inflammation, focal infections, ulceration, white and red lesions, and periodontal diseases. The results were obtained by correlating the changes observed in premenopausal and early postmenopausal women by the influence of hormones on oral health using oral exfoliative cytology. The results of the study were then correlated with various other similar studies and revealed that there is a high chance that the early postmenopausal women are more prone to oral discomfort than the premenopausal women. The data obtained from this study will be used to plan preventive health care programs (creating awareness about oral hygiene maintenance, measures to improve salivary parameters) for the menopausal and early postmenopausal women to improve their oral health related quality of life. Keywords: Cytomorphometric analysis, Early postmenopause, Exfoliative cytology, Nucleuar cytoplasmic ratio, Premenopause, Salivary flow rate