38 Comments
User's avatar
Beth Fisher's avatar

Thank you for taking the time to research and fact check this documentary. Women in menopause deserve and need quality information about what is happening to them.

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Tiffany Zaken, PA-C's avatar

This was literally the only statistic from the documentary that was interesting or new to me as a provider and I am so so grateful to you for taking the fear mongering out of the clear and present (or in this case not so present) science. Team Gunter always!

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JillieB's avatar

I freaking love you. Thank you for always doing the deep dive and taking us through how you source your information and where it leads you. ♥️

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Shelley Stepanuik's avatar

Thanks for pushing back and trying to get the speakers of the film to take accountability for what they said. Perhaps the lack of edit/retake done to correct the wording you inquired about was a source of embarrassment they were unwilling to admit!

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Karen's avatar

Thank you for sharing such a detailed and informational analysis. So many people are unaware of the time and effort needed to truly investigate information sources, and are willing, instead, to take statements at face value. Seeing the process necessary to properly vet information underscores the need to do so, and also underscores why so few people - especially those presenting information to the public for financial gain (as such time and effort costs money to production companies) - actually follow this very scientifically proper procedure.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

Thank you!

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ABossy's avatar

Yes! Like when RFK jr says he’ll “look at the research”. That idiot will read a few cherry-picked abstracts. He doesn’t have the education or expertise to do this kind of analysis.

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Dominika's avatar

It is quite amusing that the same ppl who point out, rightfully so, how the WHI study got misinterpreted, will misinterpret another study to fit a certain narrative.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

Well said

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Mick Skolnick, MD's avatar

A brilliant analysis, and a very revealing reminder of how women's health issues are being neglected and mistreated by our society in general, and our healthcare system in particular.

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PR's avatar

and a reminder that documentaries are not always reliable sources of data. Yikes.

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Pamela Englett's avatar

Thank you. That was actually a delightful and helpful rabbit hole! 🥰🥳

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PR's avatar

i want to read all of it, but commenting now on this at the start: "the people at the “M Factor” documentary could not provide me with a study to support their claim that “Nearly 30% of women in menopause will lose a tooth within the first five years of menopause.”

This alone is a WOW from me.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

Right? Like you should have the line from the study that supports this. That they didn't speaks volumes. The documentary clearly wasn't fact checked.

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S. Levin's avatar

OK, just for fun, I'm going to play that shoddy game in reverse. I'm 20 yrs post menopause and I have all my teeth -- so there!

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

I am 8 years and have 32 teeth because I have all of my wisdom teeth as well!

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PR's avatar

yeah. i mean... i've never even anecdotally heard about someone in menopause losing a tooth in their fifties or so...

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Amy McCarthy's avatar

Are there numbers on how many men lose teeth after 50 or so? Anecdotal (and keeping in mind that I’m a 48 yo middle class Canadian), but none of my menopausal friends or family have lost teeth after menopause. Or, are there stats on how long a filling that was done in the 70’s lasts. Seems like there is a lot more to tease out when it comes to causation.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

That’s what I am trying to suss out. Hopefully will have more at some point!

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PR's avatar

yes good point. how would one differentiate the cause being menopause vs dental?

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

There is some research, but watch this space for more

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ABossy's avatar

Ha! That was exactly the question I was going to ask!

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Sara Larson's avatar

Love this and thank you. I have lost a couple teeth AND am in peri-menopause and thought for a hot second it could be related. I decided to do a little digging too and couldn’t find the claim anywhere else. This is a wildly better fact check than my own. I have had a couple clients mention it and haven’t been sure how to respond. This is so helpful. 💙💙

Also SO jealous you got to meet Justin Trudeau. Loved it!!

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Maria Luque, PhD's avatar

I LOVE your rabbit holes and will follow you down them any time because at the end science prevails. Thank you!

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Nellie's avatar

It's interesting that the average age for the Buffalo study is 65...the time that Medicare coverage would start. Access to coverage or better coverage may include treatments that involve losing teeth. Maybe that many men lose teeth too!

It seemed like pregnancy had a negative effect on my dental health (not sure if that was hormonal, other causes, or just me). I'm open to the case for hormonal change affecting dental health but there could be a lot of other explanations.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

Pregnancy can absolutely negatively impact dental health

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PR's avatar

wow, it can?

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JillB's avatar

Thank you as always for your due diligence! I would like to add/ask for one more parameter- What is the definition they are using for ‘tooth loss’? When I was 60 years old I bit into a cherry granola bar that inadvertently had a pit and cracked my tooth through the root. Is this included in ‘tooth loss’? I have excellent dental hygiene, and see my dentist regularly my whole life and I eat plenty of calcium daily and don’t have osteoporosis. So I assume (but of course don’t know 100%) that this tooth was lost due to a mechanical problem - biting down on a cherry pit. Were these instances noted?

Thank you again for noting all the science and also the potential confounding variables.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

It depends on the quality of the study, but in general fracturing a tooth (from my understanding) wouldn't be considered due to menopause. Most studies are looking at tooth loss from cavities and periodontitis.

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JillB's avatar

I guess I’m just trying to point out that if I, as a postmenopausal woman, were asked if I lost a tooth after menopause, I would say yes. Hopefully a quality study would remove me from this study.

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

Yes, hopefully!

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Valerie Monroe's avatar

Thank you for this post! I mentioned the incorrect tooth statistic in one of my own posts, potentially freaking out some readers. Merde.

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PR's avatar

:) but when you share the correction, your subscribers will have even more faith in you. <3

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Dr. Jen Gunter's avatar

This!

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Valerie Monroe's avatar

They do! xo

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