Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional study was carried out in Hubei Maternal and Child Health Hospital. The sample was consisted of 432 parturients, who were chosen randomly by the rule of admittance. Socio-demographic information related to health and maternal habits was collected through a questionnaire. Women were given a full mouth periodontal examination. The clinical parameters used were the debris index-simplified (DI-S), sulcus bleeding index (SBI), probing pocket depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAJ). The birth weight and gestational weeks were recorded. The result was analyzed with chi-square test and Logistic Regression analysis.
Results: The incidence of preterm low birth weight was 12.3%. The gingivitis and periodontitis were diagnosed in 86.6% and 64.2% of PLBW cases, the prevalence of gingivitis and periodontitis in normal cases were 73.6% and 32.7%. The mean PD was 2.85mm in PLBW women and 2.14mm in normal; the mean CAL was 1.95mm in PLBW case and 0.92 in normal. By the Logistic Regression analysis, the results showed the odds ratio of having gingivitis and PLBW was 1.3 (95%confidence interval: 0.5-3.2); the OR of having periodontitis and PLBW was 2.7 (95%CI: 1.4-5.3); the pregnant women who have got system diseases before and during pregnancy were prone to having PLBW , the OR was 2.8 (95%CI: 1.4-5.5); the OR of women who having periodontal treatment before pregnancy and PLBW was 2.5 (95%CI: 0.9-6.8); the OR of smoking pregnant women having PLBW was 3.4 (95%CI: 1.2-9.9).
Conclusion: The periodontal disease of pregnancy can be regarded as an important risk factor for preterm low birth weight. The risk was increased with the decreasing gestational age and periodontitis.