The effect of steroid hormones on buccal mucosa of menopausal women.

The effects of local application of estrone and progesterone on the oral mucosa was studied in sixty-one patients. These included forty-one postmenopausal women with various subjective oral complaints, ten postmenopausal women with no oral complaints, and ten normally menstruating women. Subjective complaints (dryness, bad taste, burning sensation, and viscous saliva), quantity of saliva, and histologic changes in buccal mucosa were evaluated before and after treatment. Treatment comprised three modalities: an ointment containing estrone alone; another ointment of estrone and progesterone; and a third with a placebo base. These were massaged three times daily over the gingivae and oral mucosa for 30 days. A significant increase in secretion of saliva was observed with all three treatment modalities. Biopsies showed marked proliferative changes with all three types of ointment. A moderate improvement in subjective complaints followed all types of medication. These results indicate no specific effect of female sex hormones on the factors considered in this study. It appears that simple, repeated massage with any suitable ointment base is an effective method of inducing proliferative changes in atrophic buccal mucosa, increasing salivary secretion, and alleviating some of the subjective oral complaints of postmenopausal women.