Periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes: is there an association?

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth [PTB], preeclampsia [PRE], fetal growth restriction [FGR], or perinatal death) in women with periodontal disease (PD) compared to those without.

STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter prospective cohort study enrolled women from 3 sites between 6 and 20 weeks' gestation. The presence of PD was defined as periodontal attachment loss > or = to 3 mm on 3 or more teeth. The primary binary composite outcome included PRE, PTB, FGR, or perinatal death. Multivariable logistic regression (MVLR) was used to control for confounders.

RESULTS: Three hundred eleven patients with and 475 without PD were included. There was no association between PD and the composite outcome, PRE, or PTB in unadjusted analyses. There was no association between PD and the composite outcome (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-1.15; P = .24), preeclampsia (AOR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.37-1.36; P = .30), or preterm birth (AOR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.49-1.21; P = .25) after adjusting for relevant confounders.

CONCLUSION: Despite the body of literature suggesting an association between PD and adverse pregnancy outcomes in urban populations, this large prospective study failed to demonstrate an association.