Women's oral health: the evolving science.

The evidence base for women's oral health is emerging from legislative action, clinical research, and survey documentation. The Women's Health in the Dental School Curriculum study (1999) followed a similar study (1996) of medical school curricula. Both of these major efforts resulted from statutory mandates in the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 (updated October 2000). A major study of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) National Academy of Sciences in 2001 concluded that "the study of sex differences is evolving into a mature science." This IOM study documented the scientific basis for gender-related policy and research and challenged the dental research enterprise to conduct collaborative, cross-disciplinary research on gender-related issues in oral health, disease, and disparities. This report chronicles some of the factors that have and continue to influence concepts of women's oral health in dental education, research, and practice. Gender issues related to women's health are no longer restricted to reproductive issues but are being considered across the life span and include psychosocial factors that impact women's health and treatment outcomes.