Effect of general health and sociocultural variables on periodontal status of pregnant women

Abstract

Background: The influence of sociocultural variables, pre-existing conditions of general, oral and dental health and hormonal changes on periodontal status during pregnancy has been reported in some clinical studies and there has been speculation about the effects of these parameters on periodontal health during pregnancy.

Materials and methods: This study evaluates the periodontal condition (plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level) of 140 pregnant women and its relationship to demographic (age, professional level and education) and clinical variables (previous pregnancy, gestation period, previous periodontal maintenance, previous live births and health status). All periodontal data were recorded by the same examiner. Statistical tests used were ANOVA, ANCOVA, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman's rank correlation. The level of statistical significance was established at p< or =0.05.

Results: There were statistically significant differences between plaque index levels across educational level categories, the plaque index decreased as the level of education increased (p=0.0068). Clinical attachment loss was also significantly higher in patients not holding a salaried position (p=0.045). Plaque indexes were significantly higher in patients who did not have regular periodontal visits than in patients who did visit regularly (p=0.05). Differences between gingival index levels across different age categories were obvious, with gingival indexes increasing with age (p=0.014). There were strong positive correlations between gingival index and clinical attachment level (Rsp=0.76) and gingival index and probing pocket depth (Rsp=0.72).

Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that there is an inverse relationship between education level and plaque index. Gingivitis due to accumulation of plaque was related to previous periodontal maintenance, age and education level. So it might be suggested that special government-supported education and behavioral modification programs of periodontal disease prevention for pregnant women is useful.