Effect of periodontal therapy on pain experience during menstrual cycle

Objectives: Although the available literature is limited, some patients may find instrumentation quite painful. Several researches consistently indicate that the gender differences exist in pain perception in such a way that females are more sensitive to pain than males. The menstrual cycle has been reported to altered pain perception, although females indicate rate differences in pain perception among each other during the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of pain experienced by female patients during debridement and whether the pain responses could be predicted by patients during their menstrual and premenstrual phases and midmenstrual phase. Methods: Prior to periodontal therapy, 20 female patients with chronic periodontitis answered The Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS). Under local anesthesia, supragingival and subgingival debridement was performed in bilateral quadrants of patients during menstrual and premenstrual phases (Group 1) and midmenstrual phase(Group 2). Pain levels for each quadrants were also asssessed with a Visual Analog Scale(VAS), following debridement. Results: The median VAS pain score for patients in group 1 was 22.05mm. (range 1.1-68.7mm.) where as in group 2 it was 15.21mm.(range 0-40.9mm.). Patients in group 1 showed low pain responses to supra and subgingival debridement than the ones in group 2. This increase in the pain rates of females in group 1 was statistically more significant than the ones in group 2. Conclusion: By taking the females’menstrual cycles into consideration, we can recognize such patients who are likely to experience pain during periodontal therapy in their menstrual and premenstrual phases of menstrual cycle. Besides, we think that meetings can be reorganized and medication can be applied after periodontal therapy to reduce the pain of such patients during their menstrual cycle.