Does a woman's periodontium respond to exercise like a man's

Overall, lower prevalence of periodontitis is noted in patients with an active lifestyle which includes exercise.  Regular exercise improves risk variables associated with periodontitis such as inflammatory cytokines and is shown to reduce CRP in postmenopausal women. Little is known about the response to non-surgical therapy in postmenopausal women (where estrogen does not play a role) who exercise, versus age matched men who exercise.  

Objective: Do post-menopausal women who exercise respond to non-surgical periodontal therapy differently than age-matched men who exercise?

Method: This study was conducted at Case School of Dental Medicine, with IRB approval in accordance with HIPPA regulations.    59 Postmenopausal women and 42 age-matched men who met the American Heart Association exercise qualification were included in the study.  Periodontal parameters including bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were recorded  before and after non-surgical periodontal therapy.  

Result: All participants receiving periodontal therapy showed significant differences in each periodontal parameter following treatment  (p<.05).  However, there was no significant difference in the change in any of the parameters after treatment between women and men  (p<.05).

Conclusion: Although non-surgical periodontal therapy is benefitial for both postmenopausal women who exercise and men who exercise, there is no significant difference in the response to the non-surgical periodontal therapy between women and men.  It appears that in the absence of estrogen, women and men who have healthy lifestyles including exercise respond to non-surgical periodontal therapy.