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BACKGROUND: A case-control study was undertaken to detect whether initial chronic localized periodontitis could be a risk factor for preterm birth (PB) and foetal growth restriction. METHODS: A PB case was defined if a patient had a threatening premature event during pregnancy pre-term premature rupture of membranes, or spontaneous pre-term delivery, before the 37th week of pregnancy, and/or the weight of the newborn was or=2500 g. RESULTS: A significant association was found between PB and initial chronic localized periodontitis, the criteria being bleeding at >or=50% of the examined teeth and having at least at one site at >or=4 mm probing depth (p=0.0001). The adjusted odds ratio for initial chronic localized periodontitis was 3.32, 95% CI: 1.64-6.69. The average weight of newborns of mothers with periodontitis was significantly less than that of the women without periodontitis (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The results support the hypothesis that initial chronic localized periodontitis of pregnant women could lead to PB, and birth-weight reduction.
Radnai et al. (Wed,) studied this question.