Background: Periodontal disease during pregnancy markedly increases the woman's risk of developing preeclampsia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare whether periodontal disease increases the risk of preterm birth among preeclamptic and non-preeclamptic pregnant women.
Methods: A total of 200 pregnant women (100 preeclamptic and 100 non-preeclamptic) with periodontitis aged 20 to 30 years & < to 26(th) week of gestation. Maternal demographic and medical data was collected from concerned institutes. In both groups, blood pressure of more than 140/80 mm Hg, presence of protein in 24 hours urine, of more than 1gm per litre in 2 or more mid stream specimens obtained 6 hours apart in the absence urinary tract infection, confirmed by 0.3 g per 24 hours of urine specimens and ankle edema were measured. The periodontal status was categorised as healthy, mild, moderate/severe our worsening. Probing depth (PD), attachment levels and bleeding on probing were measured with UNC-15 probe at six sites per tooth. All the periodontal parameters were measured at second prenatal visit and within 48 hours post-partum.
Results: The present study revealed; the Incidence of preterm birth in relation to periodontal status in preeclamptic patients was significantly high (p<0.001). Total incidence of preterm birth in relation to periodontal status in preeclamptic and non-preeclamptic had chi-square value of 17.7, which is highly significant (p< 0.001).
Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that pregnant women with preeclampsia are at greater risk for preterm delivery if periodontal disease is present during pregnancy or progress during pregnancy and also rate of preterm delivery is more in preeclamptic women having moderate to severe periodontal disease.
Keywords: Periodontal disease; Preeclampsia; Preterm birth.