Testosterone is a multifunctional hormone and has different roles in human biology. One of its roles is increasing bone mineral density, which makes us think about how does testosterone affect dental work.

We should first understand the connection between the effect of testosterone and oral health. And then you will comprehend the reasons how testosterone affects your dental work. By dental work, we mean getting veneers, bracers, tooth extraction, or dental implant. Hopefully, you will get an idea about how testosterone affects your dental work after reading our article.

The Effect of Testosterone on Oral Health

One of the components of oral health is your jawbone. It is affected by many different factors and keeps changing throughout our lives. One of the factors affecting your jawbone is bone mineral density levels. When your jawbone’s mineral density levels are decreased it is possible to see some problems causing even tooth loss.

When it comes to the effect of testosterone on oral health, we need to talk about its relation to the jawbone through bone mineral density levels. The jawbone is a special kind of bone in our body that gets more blood circulation and consequently goes through much more changes. These changes are necessary for healthy bone structure.

As the old bone parts are removed (bone resorption), the new ones come up (bone formation). It is the same for every human being either man or woman. Different moderate levels of testosterone are seen in both men and women. The decrease in moderate testosterone levels is associated with low bone mineral density. First, we need to understand the relationship between bone mineral density and testosterone level, and then we will check for its effects on different genders.

The relationship between bone mineral density and testosterone level

Our bones’ mineral density is affected by many different variants. One of them is testosterone levels. As we get older, we see a decrease in testosterone levels, especially in men. This is the nature of the human body and consequently, you lose your bone density. That is one of the reasons why elderly people are more fragile, their bones are less dense.

Testosterone is an important factor in bone structure. Our bones are constantly changing and developing as we get older and there are many different factors affecting bone resorption and formation. If there is more resorption than the formation it leads to fragile bones. One of the factors affecting the cells controlling this balance is your testosterone levels. And this is why testosterone levels affect your bone mineral density.

The effect of testosterone on men

There are many different effects of testosterone on men’s bodies. It plays a role in producing red blood cells, muscle gain, and most importantly, which is also our subject, bone mineral density.

One of the reasons why most men have more muscle weight, heavier bones, and more edgy facial shapes is because of the high levels of testosterone. As men get older they tend to lose their testosterone levels.

The effect of testosterone on women

Don’t be surprised, testosterone is found in women’s bodies as well. It is not as abundant as in men’s bodies but it has some vital roles for women. The decreased level of testosterone can lead to some disorders such as metabolic syndromes, infertility, and muscle loss. Bone loss is also included in the list with suspicion.

We know for sure, testosterone plays a vital role in bone formation. But how vital it is for women is still a matter of discussion. There are some studies that have found positive effects of testosterone on bone formation after increasing in women (1). While there are some others that have found no such relation (2). We cannot give a clear answer for that but the odds are more likely to see a relation between testosterone levels and bone mineral density in women.

How Does Testosterone Affect Dental Work?

The relation between your teeth and testosterone level is a distant one. Your teeth are not considered bone, they are stronger and have a different structure. Testosterone is known to have an effect on your bones. That’s why we need to talk about the jawbone, which is linked to both your teeth and testosterone levels. If you are getting treatment or have a problem because of your jawbone it can be related to your tooth loss or a dental problem.

I need dental treatment, how does testosterone affect my dental work?

You might need veneers, crowns, bracers, or tooth extraction. In these cases, testosterone might not be a problem for your situation since these procedures are not that much affected by your bone mineral density or jawbone shape. But if you are getting a dental implant treatment, your jawbone and bone mineral density are important. In that case, since testosterone is considered to be effective in your jawbone mineral density levels, it could be your answer to the question of how testosterone affects your dental work.

I got a dental implant, how does testosterone affect my dental work?

As we said before testosterone has an effect on the jawbone since it is one of the regulators of bone formation and has an impact on bone mineral density. Dental implants are placed in your jawbone which is directly related to your bone mineral density. During the healing period of a dental implant, especially in the first phase where they put the pot inside your jawbone, your bones need to be fused with the dental implant.

According to a study, the healing process can be much healthier if your bone’s mineral density is higher (3). There is no direct evidence on if the dental implant procedure is affected by your testosterone level in relation to your mineral density. Though we see research talking about jawbone mineral density in relation to dental work.

What if macaques have the right answer for us?

According to research conducted with castrated and intake male macaques testosterone have found to be quite effective in oral health. Before we go in deep, we should let you know that during this study no macaques were harmed, scientists only worked on the naturally dead ones.

In this study, four castrated macaques were compared with the intact ones and they found some differences in their skeletal structure, especially in the jawbone and their teeth size. Castrated ones had relatively narrower, lower jawbones, and their teeth sizes were also smaller with less developed cusps. 

Based on this review they found there might be a relationship between testosterone levels and oral health. As a final word for their article, they suggested dentists consider their patient’s medical history to learn if they had any testosterone therapy. (4)

Let us be clear about one thing

Before you get lost in the question of “How does testosterone affect dental work?”, we should let you know that you should understand it is still unclear if testosterone directly affects your oral health. In an article published in the American Journal of Men’s Health (5), it is said that different methods are used to evaluate subjects’ testosterone levels in many study groups.

This article claims even if the methods they used are the correct ones they might have missed the other factors affecting dental health. Aging, other metabolical diseases, and obesity might also be the compromising factors for dental health.

When all these factors are considered and well standardized it is possible to give a clear answer to the question. So that is why we are telling you testosterone levels might have an effect on your dental health but it is still a matter of discussion.

How does testosterone therapy affect dental work?

If you have low levels of testosterone and getting testosterone therapy you might be wondering about how testosterone affects your dental work. It has many benefits for women and men. Here we will talk about its positive effects on bone mineral density. 

There are studies showing that people who got testosterone therapy had an increase in bone mineral density and as a result less gum disease and better oral health (6),(7). These studies claim that they proved there is a relationship between periodontitis (a gum disease) and low levels of testosterone.

One other reason to think about testosterone therapy is dental implant treatment. We already talked about how testosterone affects your dental implant treatment in association with higher testosterone levels and better mineral density. But it should be understood that there is not enough research to talk about its effects on your dental implant.

Remember that it is always best to consult your dentist before making any decision of getting testosterone therapy. We just wanted to inform you about the general usage of testosterone therapy and its possible effects on dental work.

References:

1: Yang J, Kong G, Yao X, Zhu Z. Association between Serum Total Testosterone Level and Bone Mineral Density in Middle-Aged Postmenopausal Women. Int J Endocrinol. 2022;2022:4228740. Published 2022 Aug 17. doi:10.1155/2022/4228740 link

2: Arpaci D, Saglam F, Cuhaci FN, Ozdemir D, Ersoy R, Cakir B. Serum testosterone does not affect bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2015;59(4):292-296. doi:10.1590/2359-3997000000085 link

3: Marquezan M, Osório A, Sant’Anna E, Souza MM, Maia L. Does bone mineral density influence the primary stability of dental implants? A systematic review. Clin Oral Implants Res. 2012;23(7):767-774. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0501.2011.02228.x link

4: Wang Q, Kessler MJ, Kensler TB, Dechow PC. The mandibles of castrated male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): The effects of orchidectomy on bone and teeth. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2016;159(1):31-51. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22833 link 

(5): Kellesarian SV, Malmstrom H, Abduljabbar T, et al. “Low Testosterone Levels in Body Fluids Are Associated With Chronic Periodontitis”. Am J Mens Health. 2017;11(2):443-453. doi:10.1177/1557988316667692  link

(6): Snyder PJ, Kopperdahl DL, Stephens-Shields AJ, et al. Effect of Testosterone Treatment on Volumetric Bone Density and Strength in Older Men With Low Testosterone: A Controlled Clinical Trial [published correction appears in JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Apr 1;177(4):600] [published correction appears in JAMA Intern Med. 2019 Mar 1;179(3):457]. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177(4):471-479. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.9539 link

(7): Lee Y, Kim I, Song J, Hwang KG, Choi B, Hwang SS. The relationship between hormone replacement therapy and periodontal disease in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2012. BMC Oral Health. 2019;19(1):151. Published 2019 Jul 15. doi:10.1186/s12903-019-0839-9 link