IADR Abstract Archives
Long-term Low Levels of Sex Steroids Negatively Impact Oral Health
Objectives: Numerous studies have revealed negative impacts of reduced sex steroids on bone development and maintenance, yet their impacts on oral health have not been the subject of any systematic investigations. In this pilot study, the status of oral health were assessed in castrated rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).
Methods: The health status of both jaw bones and teeth were assessed through physical examination and using CT images in skulls from two ovariectomized female rhesus monkeys, who lived 18 to 24 years after castration, and two orchidectomized male rhesus monkeys, who survived 19 to 22 years after castration. All were surgically castrated near or after sexual maturity.
Results: In the females, all maxillary and mandibular teeth were still in situ and generally in good condition except for thick calculus deposits on incisors. One had osteoarthritis (OA) at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), otherwise there were no remarkable pathological signs in the alveolar bones in females. However, two males had mild to severe oral diseases compared to age-controlled intact males, including antemortem loss of teeth, highly receding maxillary and mandibular alveolar bone with abscessation, and OA at all TMJ.
Conclusions: The results of this limited case study suggest detrimental impacts on oral health in males from long-term reduced levels of sex steroids, but no apparent effects in females. Further assessments of the role played by sex steroids in oral health and pathology are warranted in larger samples, especially in castrated humans. Worldwide, there is a sizable number of castrated men due to treatment for testicular and prostate cancer, sexual reassignment surgery or other reasons. Dental health professionals should be aware of the possibility of the negative consequences of reduced testosterone on oral health, and may want to query their male patients as to their use of hormone replacement therapy.
Methods: The health status of both jaw bones and teeth were assessed through physical examination and using CT images in skulls from two ovariectomized female rhesus monkeys, who lived 18 to 24 years after castration, and two orchidectomized male rhesus monkeys, who survived 19 to 22 years after castration. All were surgically castrated near or after sexual maturity.
Results: In the females, all maxillary and mandibular teeth were still in situ and generally in good condition except for thick calculus deposits on incisors. One had osteoarthritis (OA) at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), otherwise there were no remarkable pathological signs in the alveolar bones in females. However, two males had mild to severe oral diseases compared to age-controlled intact males, including antemortem loss of teeth, highly receding maxillary and mandibular alveolar bone with abscessation, and OA at all TMJ.
Conclusions: The results of this limited case study suggest detrimental impacts on oral health in males from long-term reduced levels of sex steroids, but no apparent effects in females. Further assessments of the role played by sex steroids in oral health and pathology are warranted in larger samples, especially in castrated humans. Worldwide, there is a sizable number of castrated men due to treatment for testicular and prostate cancer, sexual reassignment surgery or other reasons. Dental health professionals should be aware of the possibility of the negative consequences of reduced testosterone on oral health, and may want to query their male patients as to their use of hormone replacement therapy.