Don't lie to me! Men's "hole" is more susceptible to disease

The Maryland Dental College in the United States has found that sex hormones in men may affect the body's immune system, making men more susceptible to destructive periodontitis than women, and exposing their periodontally to a greater risk of infection.

The research results were recently published in the Journal of Periodontology. The researchers include Harlan Shiau, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, and Mark Reynolds, a professor of dentistry. The researchers found for the first time that gender affects the course and severity of destructive periodontal disease. The researchers found that sex hormones work in many ways to regulate the body's immune response and inflammatory response, and genes play an important role in these processes.

Researchers said that according to clinical observations, once men suffer from oral diseases, their condition is often more serious than that of women. Epidemiological data also show that the rate of men suffering from periodontal disease is indeed higher than that of women worldwide. This phenomenon may also be caused by the fact that men pay less attention to oral hygiene.

Research has pointed out that in addition to environmental factors, the innate immune response of men and women also affects the onset of periodontal disease. Researchers compared the differences in the innate immune response of men and women and found that men and women have different immune responses when they have periodontal inflammation, resulting in different degrees of inflammation spread and the time it takes for inflammation to stop. This may be due to the influence of sex hormones, which leads to differences in the course of periodontal disease.

Further reading: How to prevent oral diseases?

1. Regular oral health check-ups

Regular oral health check-ups can achieve the goal of "early treatment of disease and prevention of disease", which is especially important for school-age children. Generally, children aged 2 to 12 should be checked every six months; children over 12 years old should be checked once a year; pregnant women should be checked every 2 to 3 months.

2. Correct bad habits

There are some bad habits, usually unilateral biting, lip biting, mouth breathing, lip sucking, finger biting, cheek biting, tongue sticking out, etc., which will also affect the oral defense ability and lead to malocclusion and periodontal disease. The causes need to be analyzed and corrected in time.

3. Proper nutrition

Reasonable nutrition, from the perspective of oral prevention, should pay attention to three points: First, strengthen the nutrition of the dental and maxillary system during the growth and development period, such as the supply of calcium, phosphorus, vitamins A, D, C and trace elements fluorine. Second, eat more foods with appropriate hardness and rough and fiber-rich to facilitate tooth surface cleaning and enhance the defense of periodontal tissue. Third, control the intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates to reduce cariogenic factors.

4. Oral hygiene

Oral hygiene has a great relationship with the occurrence of oral diseases, especially periodontal disease and caries. The ways to maintain oral hygiene include: rinsing the mouth, brushing teeth, cleaning between teeth, massaging gums, removing food impaction and scraping away dental calculus, etc. Among them, brushing teeth is the most important.