Periodontal disease in mothers indicates risk in their children

Abstract

Maternal indicators, such as periodontitis, hygiene habits, and periodontal microflora are risk factors for childhood periodontal diseases, and might be predictive of future childhood and adolescent periodontitis.

Periodontal clinical and microbiological characteristics in healthy versus generalized aggressive periodontitis families

“…They also detected that 71% of children with a diseased mother had some alteration in gingiva (gingivitis or periodontitis), while only 15% of children of healthy mothers had these conditions (Pähkla et al. ). These results are similar to ours and suggest that the periodontal status of parents could explain the periodontal condition of their children.…”

The influence of mothers’ oral health behaviour and perception thereof on the dental health of their children

“…The poor gingival condition of mothers contributes to the severity of dental caries of their children. Periodontal bacteria of mothers can transmit between family members through daily activities [8,11,24]; Pähkla et al and Tamura et al have found periodontal bacteria in saliva samples of children to be strongly associated with that of their mothers [25,26].…”

Management of periodontal health in children: pediatric dentistry and periodontology interface

“…Vertical transmission of periodontopathogens, usually from mother to child, has also been demonstrated, with children having strains of periodontopathogens from both parents . More children of mothers with periodontal disease showed clinical signs of gingival inflammation, including bleeding on probing and higher modified gingival index scores, compared with children whose mothers had healthy periodontal tissues (, ). Pathogenic bacteria, such as Prevotella intermedia/nigrescens and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans , were more likely to be isolated in these children.…”