A Cross-Sectional Study to Assess the Relationship Betweenmaternal Periodontal Disease and Preterm Low Birth Weight Among Bengaluru Urban Population.

Background : Periodontitis has been identied as a risk factor for preterm delivery and low birth weight infants. Lipopolysaccharides derived from periodontal pathogens may enter the systemic circulation which are strong inducers of Interleukin-1 and prostaglandin-E2, causes uterine contractions and results in preterm parturition. This study was conducted as there is inconsistent data regarding this association. To e Objective: valuate the relationship between maternal periodontal disease and preterm low birth weight infants. 40 patients Methodology: were evaluated in which test group consisted of 20 patients having preterm delivery and low birth weight infants and control group consisted of 20 patients having full term delivery with normal birth weight infants. Simplied oral hygiene index, bleeding index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment levels were measured within 72 hours of delivery. The mean OHI Results: scores was 2.8 in test group and 2.1 in control group , mean BI scores was 56.60% in test group and 44.2% in control group, mean CAL score was 1.6mm in test group and 0.6 mm in control group, mean PPD scores were 3.4mm in test group and 2.02mm in control group . There was statistically signicant greater mean Clinical Attachment Loss, OHI-Scores, bleeding scores in the test group compared to control group (p value < 0.05) except for PPD (p =0.13). Therefore it can be Conclusion: concluded that there is a signicant relationship between maternal periodontal disease and preterm birth and low birth weight