Prevalence of Clinical Periodontitis and Putative Periodontal Pathogens among South Indian Pregnant Women

Abstract

In view of recent understanding of the association of periodontal infections and adverse pregnancy outcomes, the present investigation was undertaken to study the periodontal infections among 390 asymptomatic pregnant women and to find an association of bacterial etiologies with the disease. Prevalence of gingivitis was 38% and clinical periodontitis was 10% among the study population. Subgingival plaque specimens were subjected to multiplex PCR targeting ten putative periodontopathogenic bacteria. Among the periodontitis group, high detection rates of Porphyromonas gingivalis (56%), Prevotella nigrescens (44%), Treponema denticola (32%), and Prevotella intermedius (24%) were noted along with significant association with the disease (P < 0.05).

Putative periodontopathic bacteria and herpesviruses in pregnant women: a case-control study

“…These detection rates were higher than Tellapragada et al ’s study16 which also investigated prevalence of putative periodontopathic bacteria among pregnant women with periodontitis in India. Since the mean age and gestational age between the present study and study conducted in India were similar (age: 26.9 ± 3.6  vs. 26 ± 3.4 years; Gestational age: 18.3 ± 7.5  vs. 18 ± 3.5 weeks), the possible explanations for the different detection rates were due to different ethnic group and diagnostic criteria for chronic periodontitis.…”

Porphyromonas gingivalis infection in gestational diabetes mellitus and survival in tobacco smokers.

“…P. gingivalis and T. denticola were found at a significantly higher level among the pregnant women with periodontitis [221]. Recent metagenomic analysis studies revealed that placental microbiome profiles were similar to the oral microbiome [242].…”

“…The prevalence of gingivitis in pregnant women has reportedly ranged from 30% to 100% [220]. Globally, 40% to 60% of females experience gingivitis during their pregnancy [221]. The severity of pregnancy-related gingivitis usually increases in the second trimester.…”

“…In an animal model, P. gingivalis-derived LPS infected pregnant mice exhibited reduced fetal weight and increased fetal resorption [244]. Another periodontal pathogen, T. denticola has also been associated with pregnancy complications and poor pregnancy outcome [221,222,243,245]. In a mouse model, it has been shown that T. denticola has an ability to disseminate to distant sites from the site of infection [246].…”

“…Gingivitis is a bacterial-induced disease and specific dental plaque pathogens, including P. gingivalis and Treponema denticola, have been associated with poor pregnancy outcomes [221,222,240,243,245]. Furthermore, poor glycemic control has been reported to result in increased subgingival infection with these same two pathogens [230].…”