Comparing Periodontal Status Between Pregnant Women with Preeclampsia and Normal Women

Background: Periodontal disease is a common disorder in approximately 5%-10% of all pregnant women. The evidence suggests that periodontitis can increase the risk of preeclampsia. It seems that chronic systemic inflammation resulting from periodontal disease may be an important factor. However, some studies have ruled out any correlation between periodontal disease parameters and blood pressure. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the correlation between periodontal disease and preeclampsia in Iranian pregnant women. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 40 randomly selected preeclamptic patients as the case group and 40 randomly selected healthy pregnant women as the control group aged up to 35 years with gestational age of less than 34 weeks. Preeclampsia was diagnosed by a gynecologist as sustained pregnancy-induced hypertension (BP≥140/90 mm Hg within 6 hours) with proteinuria (with urine protein concentrations ≥1 mg/dl on a catheterized urine sample). All the participants underwent periodontal examinations, including the measurements of the pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), and plaque index (PI) in all the teeth except the third molar and second distal molar teeth. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The results showed that prevalence of periodontal disease was significantly higher in the preeclamptic group. The quantitative analysis of periodontal parameters between the groups indicated that mean values of the BOP, CAL, PD, and PI were significantly higher in the preeclamptic group, compared to those reported for the control group (P<0.001). Conclusions: The results of the present study showed that periodontal indices are more severe in pregnant women with preeclampsia, compared to those reported for normal pregnant subjects.