Tooth mobility changes in pregnancy

Horizontal tooth mobility of the upper incisors was repeatedly measured with the macroperiodontometer in 7 subjects during pregnancy and until several months after delivery. In 6 periodontally healthy females, a small but statistically significant average change in mobility was found. Mobility was highest during the last month of pregnancy. One subject with moderate symptoms of periodontitis and with pathological mobility exhibited a pronounced mobility increase which, 6 months post partum, had not returned to the levels determined at the third month of pregnancy. Increase of mobility during pregnancy was apparently caused by alterations of the periodontal membrane and not of the alveolar socket bone.