Evaluation of Maternal Periodontitis as an Independent Risk Factor for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: A Cross-sectional Study

Objectives: The study aims to evaluate the association between maternal periodontitis and pre-term and/or low birth weight babies after the adjustment of possible confounding factors in the South Indian population.
Methods: The study involved selection of 3500 postpartum mothers from various hospitals of Tamil Nadu and they were grouped into four categories; Group I Normal term Normal birth weight (n=1100), Group-II Pre-term Normal birth weight (n=400), Group III Pre-term Low birth weight (n=1000) Group IV Normal term Low birth weight(n=1000). Socio-demographic data and personal history were obtained through interview and medical history was procured from medical records. Periodontal parameters were recorded by a calibrated examiner.Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-15 software. Odds ratio was calculated to assess the strength of association and multivariate regression model was used to adjust the effect of confounders.
Results: There was no significant difference in the prevalence of periodontitis between the four groups. None of the periodontal parameters showed a significant risk for any of the adverse pregnancy outcomes except for the crude association observed between the presence of periodontitis and normal term low birth weight babies. After the adjustment for the possible confounding factors, the risk became insignificant whereas, factors such as anaemia,foetal anomaly, PROM, age, diet, educational status, gender of the newborn, income and no of pre-natal visits were the significant risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Conclusions: This study concluded that periodontitis is not a significant independent risk factor for Preterm and/or low birth weight babies among South Indian population.