Gum disease tied to pregnancy complication

March 4, 2009 |  Print  |  Share/Bookmark  | 0 responses

Last Updated: 2003-02-03 10:00:12 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Linda Carroll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Severe gum disease may raise a pregnant woman’s risk of developing a dangerous condition known as preeclampsia, a new study shows.

Women with severe periodontal disease were more than twice as likely as those with healthy gums to develop the condition, according to a study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Preeclampsia, which is characterized by the sudden onset of high blood pressure, can lead to eclampsia, or seizures late in pregnancy or after delivery. Eclampsia can cause organ damage and even death.

The new findings are too preliminary for public health officials to make any blanket statements regarding oral health and pregnancy, the study’s lead author Dr. Kim A. Boggess said in an interview with Reuters Health.

But “this report emphasizes to me that obstetricians should be inquiring about dental care and oral health among their patients,” added Boggess, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the department of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Boggess and her colleagues followed 885 pregnant women, checking their gums when they started the study and within 48 hours of delivery.

At the beginning of the study, 125 women had severe periodontal disease. And out of the 763 women who delivered babies during the course of the study and received exams after delivery, 100 had severe periodontal disease.

Two percent of women who had healthy gums before 26 weeks of pregnancy developed preeclampsia, while 3% of those whose gums were healthy at delivery developed the condition. But 5% of women with mild periodontal disease early in pregnancy or at delivery developed preeclampsia. Among women with severe gum disease, 6% diagnosed with the condition early in pregnancy developed preeclampsia, and 10% of women with severe gum disease at delivery had preeclampsia. Ultimately, the researchers found that women with severe gum disease at delivery were more than twice as likely as those with healthy gums to develop preeclampsia.

Boggess isn’t sure why gum disease might be associated with preeclampsia, but she suspects that inflammation in the gums may lead to inflammation throughout the body. And such inflammation could produce abnormalities in the placenta that bring on preeclampsia, she explained.

It is also possible that the bacteria involved in gum disease somehow manage to migrate to the blood vessels of the placenta or uterus and do damage there, Boggess said. Or, perhaps, the gum disease is simply a marker for some maternal characteristic that predisposes women to preeclampsia, she added.

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