Almost one in four people age 65 and older have lost all their teeth. Since teeth are bones, I’ve noticed that many of my menopause patients with osteoporosis also have bad teeth. Osteoporosis associated with menopause is the most common bone disorder due to problems with normal metabolism. Here is a new way to help you tell if you do.
A recent article in the journal Menopause studied healthy women in menopause to see if the condition of their teeth could be used to guess which of them had osteoporosis or thinning of their bones.
I’m not surprised that it did. Those with poor oral hygiene and teeth missing were much more likely to have osteoporosis.
So if you are in menopause and have bad teeth, ask your dentist and ask your doctor to check a bone density test. There is also a urine test called pyridinoline that is also a good marker for osteoporosis and check your blood vitamin D level too.
On the other hand, if you have osteoporosis, it may be time to visit your dentist.
Here is a video on osteoporosis to give you more information.
