J Korean Acad Periodontol.  2000 Mar;30(1):111-119.

Relationship between Preterm Low Birth Weight and Periodontal Disease Activity in Pregnancy

• Choi EC
• Ku Y
• Rhyu IC
• Hahm BD
• Yoon BH
• Han SB
• Chung CP
• Choi SM

Abstract

PURPOSE We designed this study for the purpose of determining the relationship between periodontal disease activity and PLBW, using the evaluation of probing pocket depth, loss of attachment, gingival index, gingival crevicular fluid amount and subgingival microflora.
METHODS
A total of 100 volunteer mothers(mean age 30.44) at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Seoul National University Hospital were selected for this study.Pregnancy outcomes were categorized into cases and controls in two ways. our definition was based on the following; Group 1 : Any PLBW cases Vs. All NBW controls Group 2 : PLBW cases Vs. NBW controls A periodontal exam was performed on the Ramfjord(#16, 21, 24, 36, 41, 44) teeth and Clinical evaluation consisted of probing pocket depth, loss of attachment, gingival index and gingival crevicular fluid amount. Subgingival plaque samples were collected by three sterile #35 paper points. The total number of anaerobic colonies and aerobic bacteria were enumerated after incubation. Antisera to P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, A. actinomycetemcomitans were produced in white rabbits with live whole cells suspensions. The specific fluorescent bacteria obtained by immunofluorescence and total cell counts obtained by dark-field microscopy were counted on four fields. The percent of each specific microorganism in the total cell count was determined.
RESULTS
Any PLBW and PLBW cases showed significantly greater probing depth and attachment loss than all NBW and NBW controls. Cases group had significantly increased anaerobic bacterial counts compared with control group and no differences in the other microbes. This study confirmed that periodontal disease is a statistically significant risk factor for PLBW by investigating clinical parameters and subgingival plaque analysis.

Keyword

Periodontal disease activity; Preterm low birth weight; Probing depth; Loss of attachment; Anaerobic bacteria

MeSH Terms

Bacteria
Bacteria, Aerobic
Bacteria, Anaerobic
Bacterial Load
Cell Count
Fluorescent Antibody Technique
Gingival Crevicular Fluid
Gynecology
Humans
Immune Sera
Infant, Low Birth Weight*
Infant, Newborn
Microscopy
Obstetrics
Periodontal Diseases*
Periodontal Index
Pregnancy*
Rabbits
Risk Factors
Seoul
Suspensions
Tooth
Volunteers
Immune Sera
Suspensions