Analysing the Interaction of Sex and Laboratory Conditions in Animal Research

The persistent underrepresentation of female animals in biomedical research, particularly in medical and dental sciences, has significant implications for research quality, translational validity and patient safety. In dental preclinical studies, the exclusion of female animals can obscure key biological differences in oral disease pathogenesis, progression and response to treatment, thus compromising the development of effective therapies for diverse populations. Evidence from biomedical research underlines the public health risks of such omission, and parallels in dental science highlight that ignoring sex as a biological variable can jeopardise efficacy and safety in novel oral health interventions. Addressing these gaps requires a systematic, sex-informed approach: from problem identification and research design, through data collection and sex-based disaggregation, to analysis and dissemination of results. Researchers must also assess extrinsic laboratory conditions, such as caging practices, environmental controls and researcher effects, since these may differentially influence male, female and hermaphroditic animal models. In the context of human research, interactions among sex, gender and broader social determinants (eg, age, socioeconomic status, geography, race and ethnicity) are crucial for experimental outcomes. Similarly, dental animal studies must consider how biological traits interact with laboratory environments to avoid misattributing outcomes to sex when they may be driven by external factors. However, many oral health researchers lack training in these advanced methodologies. Thus, dental schools need to integrate sex, gender and intersectional analysis into their curricula, equipping future researchers with the methodological rigour necessary to produce reproducible, equitable and innovative dental science for all populations.