If you currently experience hot flashes brought on by low testosterone and plan to get dental implants soon, it's essential that you know how hot flashes affect your treatment. Although hot flashes generally affect menopausal women, they can develop in men who have low testosterone levels due andropause and certain prostate cancer treatments. To help you get through your dental implant procedure without complications, here's what you need to know about male hot flashes and what you can do to keep them at bay.

Why Do You Have Male Hot Flashes?

Hot flashes develop when your body's temperature elevates above normal. Although it's not readily understood why and how hot flashes develop, sources think that andropause or male menopause has something to do with it.

Andropause occurs when the male hormone testosterone slows down or diminishes in response to aging. Taking or using certain types of hormone-suppressant drugs, such as androgen deprivation therapy treatments, can also affect your testosterone levels. Androgen deprivation therapy is used to treat prostate cancer. Some men experience a significant decrease in testosterone during their androgen deprivation treatments.

In response to the decrease in testosterone, the hypothalamus gland, which regulates body temperature and hormone production, tries to correct the problem by stimulating the testes to make more hormones. However, the cells of your skin and sweat glands activate instead. You experience excessive sweating, changes in skin color and other symptoms of hot flashes.

If you don't find ways to control or treat your hot flashes, they can affect the success of your dental implant procedure.

How Do Hot Flashes Affect Dental Implant Procedures?

As your body tries to cool off, it releases sweat. Sweat contains various electrolytes and other nutrients that hydrate the tissues of your body, including your gums. If your gums dry out during or after your dental implant procedure, they can develop bacterial infections and bleed. 

Bacteria weaken the bone tissues that support dental implant posts. If this happens, the posts fail to stay upright in their implant sites. Your dentist will need to strengthen and treat your infection with antibiotics and bone grafts before placing new implants in your mouth.

What Can You Do to Minimize Your Hot Flashes Until Your Implant Procedure?

You can reduce the negative effects of your hot flashes on your gums and jawbones by drinking plenty of hydrating fluids, such as coconut water, unsweetened fruit juices and filtered water.

Eating fruits, such as watermelon, kiwi and honeydew, also keeps your mouth and body hydrated. Placing cold packs beneath your pillows or bed coverings at night reduces the heat in your body.

If it's possible and safe for you to do so, ask your medical doctor to adjust the strength of your hormone-suppressant medications until after your dental implant surgery. But you should never change or stop taking your medications without speaking to your doctor first.

If you need additional information about male menopause and your hot flashes' effects on your dental implant procedure, contact your dentist, someone like Jeffrey S. Thaller DMD, right away.