Evaluation of the Effect of Menopause on Saliva and Dry Mouth-A Cross Sectional Study Hemalatha V T1, Julius A2, Kumar S P Kishore3, Asokan G S4, Raman G Aneetha5, Sundar N Mani6, Prasanth B Krishna7 1PhD Scholar, Reader, Department of Oral Medicine &Radiology, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Pallikaranai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 2Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Pallikaranai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 3Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Pallikaranai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 4Professor & Head, Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology, Tagore Dental College & Hospital, Chennai 5Oral & Maxillofacial Radiologist, Doctor In Chief, Signature Smiles Dental Clinic, Chromepet, Chennai 6PhD Scholar, Department of Periodontics, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Pallikaranai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 7Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Pallikaranai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Online published on 9 January, 2019. Abstract Objective This study was performed to evaluate the effect of menopause on saliva and oral health. Salivary flow rate and pH of stimulated whole saliva, oral sign of dryness were determined in regularly menstruating and postmenopausal women who are not on hormone replacement treatment. Study Design A cross-sectional study design was undertaken with a sample size of 60 subjectsfrom whom Paraffin stimulated whole salivary samples were collected to record salivary flow rate and pH.sixty subjects are divided equally into two groups: -GROUP A The control group included 30 regularly menstruating healthy women (premenopausal women) (age range: 25–40 years).GROUP B The study group included 30 post menopausal women (age range: 45-52years).Immediately after collection, pH was determined by dipping pH test paper directly into the sample of oral fluid. Oral sign of dryness was recorded respectively. Statistical Analysis and Results Salivary flow rate and pH values of the postmenopausal women were significantly lower than those of the control group (p=0.0001). Clinical Sign of oral dryness is significantly higher among the post menopausal women than that of the control group (p≤0.0001). In our study we found salivary flow rate significantly lower in the post-menopausal women in comparison with the menstruating women and it was also observed that the salivary pH of the post-menopausal group was significantly lower than that of the control group Conclusion Saliva being an easy diagnostic tool would serve as andiagnostic tool of hypo-salivation which is the most commonest oral changes during menopause. Top Keywords Menopause, saliva, flow rate, dryness, hypo salivation. Top |