Effect of Periodontal Disease on Preeclampsia

A lot of studies have shown periodontal diseases as a risk factor for adverse pregnancy out­comes. The as­sociation between periodontitis and preeclampsia has been studied recently with contro­versy. Considering the importance of preventing preeclampsia as a dangerous and life-threatening disease in pregnant women, the pre­sent study was carried out. Two hundred and ten pregnant women participated in this case-control study (105 controls & 105 cases) during years 2007 and 2008. Preeclamptic cases were defined as blood pressure ≥140/90mmHg and protein­uria +1. Control group were pregnant women with normal blood pressure with­out proteinuria. Both groups were examined during 48 hours after child delivery. Plaque Index (PLI), Pocket Depth (PD), Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Bleeding On Probing (BOP), Gingival Recession (GR) were measured on all teeth except for third molars and recorded as periodontal examination. Data was ana­lyzed using t-test, chi-square, and Mann-Whitney U statistical tests. There was no significant difference between the two study groups for PD. CAL, GR, BOP signifi­cantly in­creased in the case group (P< 0.02). This study showed that preeclamptic cases were more likely to develop perio­dontal disease (P< 0.0001). Eighty three percent of the control group and 95% of the case group had perio­dontal disease (P< 0.005) which had shown that preeclamptic cases were 4.1 times more likely to have periodontal disease (OR= 4.1). Preeclamptic cases significantly had higher attachment loss and gingival recession than the con­trol group.