Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness about Gingival and Periodontal Changes in Women during Menstruation - An Evaluative Study.

Introduction: Sex hormones play an important role in the health of women's periodontal structures throughout their lives. Under both physiological and pathological conditions, such as hormonal therapy or the use of oral contraceptives; women, in particular, experience hormonal fluctuation. It is quite undeniable that periodontal symptoms emerge when these steroid hormones are out of equilibrium.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey based on a questionnaire was conducted, including 462 women within the age range of 18-35 years. Twenty four questions on the subject of periodontal changes associated with menstruation were included in the questionnaire and the responses were recorded. The data collected were tabulated in an Excel sheet and was statistically analyzed.

Results: Descriptive analysis was used to assess participants' knowledge and awareness. It was found that 50% of the participants were unaware of the gingival and periodontal changes related to menstruation. The findings suggest that the awareness among 25-30 years was higher. The results also show that the alteration in the color of the gingiva and bleeding from the gingiva shows an insignificant change during menstruation ( P = 0.837, P = 0.875), whereas a statistically significant difference was seen in the texture of the gingiva, ulceration of gingiva, pain, and burning sensation in the periodontal tissue during menstruation ( P = 0.001).

Conclusion: There is a huge gap in awareness of periodontal changes and menstruation. Creating awareness and spreading knowledge about this relationship will help to prevent periodontal disease at an early stage in women.