Women Cleaner Than Men

Another survey – this time attributed (to the American Journal of Periodontology) – has shown that women are on the whole much better than men at looking after their mouths. They have better oral hygiene, less gum disease and fewer cavities or restorations.

This confirms what all of us who work in dentistry know from personal experience and I suspect it comes as no surprise to most other people. The question is: why does this difference (about 30% - statistically very significant) exist?

All the old favourite rationalizations have been trotted out, including: media and societal pressure for women to look good/ as the vessels for bringing new life into the world, women are psychologically programmed to take better care of themselves/ women aren’t too arrogant to listen to advice... and so on.

There is some truth in all of these explanations but no positive proof that I have been able to find pointing to a single dominant reason as to why women should be more hygienic.

So I would be grateful to hear what you have to say. If you can shed any rays of light on this – serious or facetious – please send them in and, if they appeal to me, I’ll put them on here.

In the meantime, Ladies: Keep up the good work.

                         Gents: Let’s get our act together.