Frequency of Gingivitis in Pregnancy : A Comparative Study between First and Third Trimesters of Pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study were to determine the incidence of gestational gingivitis and assess oral health status in two groups of women at different stages of pregnancy. Methods: A comparative descriptive study was conducted on pregnant women attending the outpatient antenatal care clinic at Princess Haya Hospital in Aqaba from January 2010 to August 2010. Data were collected from 580 women. Two groups were created. The first group (n=260) included women at their first trimester and the second group (n=320) included women in their third trimester of pregnancy at the time of their dental examination. Data were collected from the women by face-to-face interview and intra-oral examination. The two groups were compared. Results: Gingivitis was detected in 26.8% in women examined during their first trimester of pregnancy as compared to 32.1% in women examined during their third trimester. There was no statistical significant difference in the incidence of gingivitis between trimesters. However, there was significant difference between the first and third trimester of pregnancy regarding associated calculus (p<0.0001) and the presence of malodor (p=0.006) with both being more common in later pregnancy. Oral hygiene habits and regular dental care were much better during first months of pregnancy compared to the last three months (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Our study confirms that the frequency of gingivitis during the third trimester of pregnancy is higher than during the first trimester. Further studies are needed to determine the relation of gingivitis to oral hygiene and dental care habits.

Periodontal status and some variables among pregnant women in a Nigeria tertiary institution

“…The prevalence of periodontal disease tends to increase with gestational age. [ 19 20 ] The result in this study was similar to those of previous studies,[ 19 20 ] but in contrast to some other studies. [ 4 8 ] The finding in this study may be explained by the fact that progesterone and estrogen increases with gestational age of pregnancy reaching their peak plasma levels of 100 ng/ml and 6 ng/ml, respectively, in the third-trimester.…”

“…[ 3 21 ] The plausible reasons may be attributed to negligence of oral hygiene and intolerance early in pregnancy, which they were able to overcome as the gestational age increased. [ 19 22 ]…”

“…Lower educational status may directly lead to lower access to and utilization of dental services, low-degree of periodontal health awareness and negligence of oral hygiene. [ 3 5 19 ]…”

Frequency of gingivitis in pregnancy in patients reporting to Bacha Khan Dental College, Mardan

“…Published literature have shown that the prevalence rates of gingivitis during pregnancy range between 30% and 100 %. (14,15) The prevalence of gingivitis in pregnancy was reported 85.2% in Nigerian population (16) and 86.2% in Thailand population (11) . The variability in findings can be attributed to genetic, hormonal and oral hygiene habit variation.…”

“…The fact the all the participants were brushing their teeth may be due the fact that we included in our study only pregnant females with adequate oral hygiene. Al-Rayyan et al (16) researched on large sample of pregnant females (n=580) in Jordon population and reported that most common pattern of brushing was less effective. The variation can be attributed to sample size difference and awareness among participants.…”