A summary of research on the association between periodontitis and pre-eclampsia, pre-term birth and low birth weight

Sammanfattning: ABSTRACT Background: In the late 1980s the possibility was raised that periodontal infections could constitute maternal infections so it could influence adversely birth outcomes. Adversely birth outcomes such as preterm infants (born before 37 weeks of gestation). Low birth weight (LBW) (<2500g) is also usual with preterm infants. Transient bacteraemia commonly occurs in subjects with inflamed gingiva (Kinane et al. 2005) and may reach the tissues of the placenta, which could cause inflammatory impetus for labour induction  Aim: The aim of this study was to review published articles during the last ten years to summarize the current research field to elucidate if there is an association between periodontitis and some adverse birth outcomes, specifically low birth weight, pre-eclampsia and pre-term birth. Methods: A literature search was conducted in the database PubMed with the aim to find published articles in which the association between periodontitis and adverse birth outcomes was examined. Human clinical studies that were published within the last ten years, had an abstract available and a minimum of 200 subjects were included. Studies published before 2012 were excluded. Results: Results of the primary search presented 280 articles. Twentyone of these articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Two thirds of the included studies could show an association between periodontitis and adverse birth outcomes.  Conclusions: Within the limitations of this paper there is very likely to be an association between periodontitis and adverse birth outcomes in some populations, and under some conditions such as diagnostic criteria for periodontitis.