Cessation of periodontal care during pregnancy: effect on infant birthweight

Abstract

The goal of this study was to assess whether interruption of care for chronic periodontitis during pregnancy increased the risk of low-birthweight infants. A population-based case-control study was designed with 793 cases (infants < 2,500 g) and a random sample of 3,172 controls (infants >or= 2,500 g). Generalized estimating equation models were used to relate periodontal treatment history to low birthweight risk and to common risk factors. The results indicate that periodontal care utilization was associated with a 2.35-fold increased odds of self-reported smoking during pregnancy (95% confidence interval: 1.48-3.71), a 2.19-fold increased odds for diabetes (95% confidence interval: 1.21-3.98), a 3.90-fold increased odds for black race (95% confidence interval: 2.31-6.61), and higher maternal age. After adjustment for these factors, interruption of periodontal care during pregnancy did not lead to an increased risk for a low-birthweight infant when compared to women with no history of periodontal care (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.60-1.52). In conclusion, women receiving periodontal care had genetic and environmental characteristics, such as smoking, diabetes and race, that were associated with an increased risk for low-birthweight infants. Periodontal care patterns, in and of themselves, were unrelated to low-birthweight risk.

Comparison of different criteria for periodontitis case definition in head and neck cancer individuals

“…Definition 2 criterion resulted in the highest periodontitis frequency (81.0 %), which was similar to previous studies [8,33,37], probably because this definition requires only one periodontal clinical parameter in just one site (PD≥4 mm in at least 1 site). The second higher periodontitis frequency (70.2 %) was observed using definition 6 which considers two but not concurrently periodontal clinical parameters (PD or CAL).…”

“…This criterion has 87 % chance of correct positive diagnosis in relation to the gold standard and 83 % chance of correct negative diagnosis. Conversely, Costa et al [8] found low specificity for the definition 2 [33] (0.20) when compared to the same gold standard.…”

“…PD and CAL were recorded [30,32]. Six periodontitis case definitions were used in the present study (Table 1) [1,6,[33][34][35]. Health and periodontitis individuals were categorized in two groups for the purpose of treatment and statistical analysis.…”

Periodontitis, cardiovascular disease and pregnancy outcome – focal infection revisited?

“…A typical example of these would be smoking, 29 and not all studies have adequately controlled for this in their designs or analyses. 79 As a result the approach of carrying out a systematic review, where studies are rated and included based on strict, pre-defined quality criteria, would appear to be a way to compensate for this. Several systematic reviews have been carried out in this field, the most recent being part of a joint European Federation of Periodontology and American Academy of Periodontology initiative to establish the current state of knowledge in this and associated fields.…”

Influence of Socioeconomic Status on the Association between Prenatal Periodontal Care and Preterm Low Birthweight Delivery: A Population-Based Case-Control Study

“…There are also results from studies suggesting that periodontal care patterns or treatment of the disease during pregnancy is not associated with changes in the risk for LBW delivery (Hujoel et al, 2006;Michalowicz et al, 2006;Oliveira et al, 2011). Recent supporting meta-analyses further illustrate that treatment with scaling and root planing in this period is not protective statistically (Fogacci et al, 2011;Polyzos et al, 2010).…”