Categories

Volume 5 Issue 5 (May, 2017)

Original Articles

Gustatory Functional Level and Oral Dryness: Impact of Menopause on Women Health
Kulwinder Kaur, Prabhnoor Kaur, Balwinder Singh, Kavipal Singh, Kirandeep Kaur, Ramandeep S. Narang

Introduction: In post menopausal women, the main concern to the dental professional is mainly oral dryness and altered taste. The sense of taste can have drastic impact on the quality of life. So, the purpose of this study was to compare the gustatory functional level and xerostomia score levels in post menopausal women as compared to pre menopausal and age matched men group. Material and Methods: The present clinical study consisted of Group 1 which included 25 postmenopausal women aged between 45 – 75 years, Group 2 which included 25 postmenopausal age matched men aged between 45 – 75 years and Control group which included 25 premenopausal women aged between 25 – 45 years. The xerostomia scores were assessed on basis of questionnaire on severity of xerostomia and the gustatory function was assessed using taste strips of different tastes at different concentrations. Results: There was significant difference in mean values of both xerostomia score, gustatory functional levels between group 1 & 2 and control group. Also there was significant difference between group 1 and group 2 in comparison of gustatory levels. The results also showed negative correlation between XI score and Gustatory levels in postmenopausal women group. Conclusion: Gustatory levels are more reduced in postmenopausal women when compared to age matched men group. This is of more concern for the patients as these changes can result in altered life styles not because of age only. As the dentists and gynaecologist are generally the first healthcare professionals for patients with these disorders, so there is an increase role of physicians and gynaecologist to work in coordination for better assessment of the overall health status of individuals. Keywords: Postmenopause, Oral dryness, gustatory functional level.

 
Abstract View | Download PDF | Current Issue