J Periodontal Implant Sci.  2012 Dec;42(6):212-216.

Relationship between maternal periodontal disease and Apgar score of newborns

• Shirmohammadi A
• Abdollahifard S
• Chitsazi M
• Behlooli S

Abstract

PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between maternal periodontal disease and the health status of newborns using Apgar scores.
METHODS
One hundred pregnant women with periodontal disease were included in the case series and 100 pregnant women without periodontal disease were placed in the control group, respectively. The periodontal parameters of bleeding on probing (BOP), clinical attachment loss (CAL), probing depth (PD), birth weight, and Apgar scores were recorded in both groups. T-tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to determine the birth weight odds ratio to analyze the relationship between the periodontal parameters of BOP, CAL, and PD on the one hand and an Apgar score of less than 7. An unpaired Student's t-test was used to analyze differences in means between the case and control groups using SPSS ver. 13.
RESULTS
The means of the ages, periodontal pocket depths, attachment loss, areas with BOP, Apgar score in the first 5 minutes and infant birth weight exhibited statistically significant differences between the case and control groups. The ratio of an Apgar score of <7 to periodontal disease was 3.14; the ratio of low birth weight risk in mothers with periodontal disease to that in mothers without periodontal disease was 2.74. Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed a significant correlation between the infant birth weight and BOP, CAL, and PD of the mother. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the Apgar score and BOP, CAL, and PD and also between the Apgar score and infant birth weight.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study showed a significant relationship between periodontal disease and infant birth weight; in addition, there was a significant relationship between the periodontal indexes of BOP, CAL, and PD on the one hand and the Apgar score on the other.

Keyword

Apgar score; Birth weight; Infant; Periodontal disease

MeSH Terms

Apgar Score
Birth Weight
Female
Hand
Hemorrhage
Humans
Infant
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Mothers
Odds Ratio
Parturition
Periodontal Diseases
Periodontal Index
Periodontal Pocket
Pregnant Women

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