Why women have more cavities than men?

Reproduction pressures and rising fertility explain why women suffered a more rapid decline in dental health than men in the man of the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers and more sedentary activities, explains anthropologist University of Oregon.

The conclusion follows a comprehensive assessment reports of the incidence of dental caries and prehistory through the lives of people in the research in the world. A decisive factor was dramatic changes in the female specific hormones, reports John R. Lukacs, professor of anthropology who specializes in dental, skeletal and nutritional issues.

His conclusions are outlined in the October issue of Current Anthropology. The study examined the incidence of dental caries (cavities) by sex to show that women typically experience poorer dental health than men. One of the studies examined were already done by Lukacs. Two clinical dental studies published this year (one in the Philippines, the other in Guatemala) and cited in the paper, Lukacs said, the same conclusion in May and the mechanism by which the biological differences are mediated ".

A change in food production by agrarian societies has been associated with an increase in cavities. Anthropologists have attributed men-women differences to behavioral factors, including a sexual division of labor and dietary preferences. However, Lukacs said, clinical and epidemiological literature from different cultural institutions and the environment shows a clear picture of the effects on women, oral health.

"The role of specific factors has been denied by anthropologists, but they are very important in the model, since the adoption of agriculture is associated with increased sedentism and fertility," Lukacs said. "I support the growth of agriculture, increasing demand on the reproductive system of women, contributes to the increase in fertility that intensified the negative effect of the change in the concentration of diet on the oral health of women. The combined effects of rising fertility, dietary changes and division of labor during the transition into agricultural societies contributed to the large gender difference observed in rates of dental caries Aujourd "HUI".

Lukacs' meta-analysis looked at both prehistoric anthropological and modern health records. It has repeatedly found that increases in cavities go in favor of women in adulthood. Lukacs research has shown that women higher cavities are influenced by three major changes:
• female sex hormones. Citing his own research, published in 2006, he notes that these hormones and physiological factors can significantly affect the formation of the cavity. A study on animals published in 1954 found that female estrogens, androgens, but not men, were correlated to cavity rates. It calls for a cumulative effect of estrogens, including fluctuations at puberty and high levels during pregnancy that both promote cavities and dietary changes.
• The biochemical composition and flow of saliva. Women produce less saliva than men, making the removal of food residue from the teeth, and that during pregnancy, changes in chemical composition, reducing the ability of salivary antimicrobial.
• Food envy, the immune response during pregnancy and dislikes. Lukacs points to findings that women as high-energy, sweet foods during the third quarter, and an aversion to meat in first trimesters.
How the combination of factors that contribute to a higher risk of cavities in women as age is not fully documented or understood, "he wrote." If hormonal and physiological factors in additive or independently , their impact on women, oral health can be significant. The fact that women's caries experience increases with age, a higher rate than men across ethnic groups from different cultures and the environment supports this interpretation. "
Source: Adapted from article in Medical News Today from original press release. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the American Institute of Indian Studies, American Philosophical Society, LSB Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation and Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research supported the project.