| Summary: |
Background: It has been postulated that associations between periodontal disease and
systemic conditions may be because of the confounding effects of smoking. In
addition, studies of this type rarely investigate the adverse pregnancy outcome of
miscarriage.
Aim: The aim of this prospective study was to investigate a relationship between
periodontal disease in pregnancy and subsequent adverse pregnancy outcomes in a
population of never smokers.
Materials and Methods: Pregnant women were recruited at 12 weeks gestation.
Demographic, behavioural and medical data were collected. A periodontal
examination was performed and data on each subjects’ pregnancy outcome were
collected.
Results: A total of 1793 women reported never previously smoking. Of these, 7.3%
had a pre-term birth and 0.9% a late miscarriage. As expected in this population, we
found no associations between poorer periodontal health and either pre-term birth or
low birth weight (LBW). In contrast, the subjects who experienced a late miscarriage
had a higher mean probing depth at mesial sites compared with the subjects that gave
birth at term (2.69mm versus 2.41 mm, p50.006).
Conclusions: There was an association between some measures of periodontal
disease and late miscarriage; however, there was no association between periodontitis
and pre-term birth or LBW in this population.
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