How bone drug may reduce gum disease

WOMEN given hormone treatment for osteoporosis — where bones weaken and can break — are less likely to develop gum disease, according to a study of 500 women by the State University of New York.

Those taking oestrogen for post- menopausal osteoporosis, as well as calcium and vitamin D (also thought to help with the condition), were 44 per cent less likely to suffer from gum disease, which damages soft tissue in the mouth and can destroy the bones supporting teeth.

It’s thought that oestrogen blocks the compounds that trigger the inflammation that’s involved in gum disease.