Very low and low birth weight associated with maternal periodontitis

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of very low and low birth weight (VLBW and LBW) with maternal periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Overall, 1206 women were examined at post-partum and two alternative criteria for periodontitis definition were used: (1) four or more teeth with at least one site with probing depth (PD) ≥ 4 mm and clinical attachment loss (CAL) ≥ 3 mm; and (2) at least one site with PD and CAL ≥ 4 mm. For each definition, two multivariate analyses were performed: (1) linear regression for birth weight; (2) ordinal logistic regression for birth weight, categorized as adequate (n = 1046), LBW (n = 145) and VLBW (n = 15). RESULTS: Linear regression showed that maternal periodontitis was associated with a decrease in mean birth weight (periodontitis definition 1: p = 0.027; periodontitis definition 2: p = 0.003). Ordinal logistic regression showed that maternal periodontitis was associated with LBW and VLBW [odds ratio (OR) = 2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.39-2.90, when considering periodontitis definition 2]; and with LBW (OR = 1.65; 95% CI 1.15-2.36, when considering periodontitis definition 1). CONCLUSION: Maternal periodontitis was associated with a decrease in mean birth weight, as well as with LBW and VLBW.