Parodontale gezondheid van zwangeren beïnvloedt geboortegewicht niet

Naar de relatie tussen vroeggeboorte en gewichtsreductie bij pas geboren zuigelingen en de ernst van parodontale aandoeningen bij zwangeren is veel onderzoek verricht. De resultaten van dergelijk onderzoek zijn in de internationale tandheelkundige literatuur echter omstreden. In een recent onderzoek werd het effect van behandeling en controle bij zwangeren op de parodontale gezondheid bevestigd, maar een effect op het geboortegewicht werd niet gezien.

This randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out to assess the effect of comprehensive nonsurgical periodontal treatment and strict plaque control performed during pregnancy on the reduction of preterm and/or low birth weight rates (PTLBW). Three hundred and three women were randomly allocated to receive periodontal treatment either during pregnancy (n = 147, test group) or after delivery (n = 156, control group). During pregnancy, the control group received only one session of supragingival scaling and oral hygiene instruction. In contrast, the test group received comprehensive periodontal treatment including multiple sessions of scaling and root planing, oral hygiene instructions, and frequent maintenance visits. At baseline, periodontal inflammation was observed in approximately 50% of sites and attachment loss affected <15% of sites. Compared to controls, women in the test group had significant reductions in the percentage of sites with plaque (48.5% vs. 10.3%, p < 0.001), gingival bleeding (23.3% vs. 2.5%, p < 0.001), calculus (21.3% vs. 4.1%, p < 0.001), bleeding on probing (38.1% vs. 2.6%, p < 0.001) and probing depth ≥3 mm (19.97% vs. -2.45%, p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed between the groups in the occurrence of PT (11.7% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.57), LBW (5.6 % vs. 4.1%, p = 0.59), and PTLBW (4.15% vs. 2.60%, p = 0.53).
Comprehensive periodontal treatment and strict plaque control significantly improved periodontal health; however, no reduction of PTLBW rates was observed. Thus, remaining periodontal inflammation posttreatment cannot explain the lack of effect of periodontal treatment on PTLBW. This study demonstrated that periodontal diseases may be successfully treated during pregnancy. Our results do not support a potential beneficial effect of periodontal treatment on PTLBW.

Bron
Weidlich P, Moreira CH, Fiorini T, et al. Effect of nonsurgical periodontal therapy and strict plaque control on preterm/low birth weight: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Clin Oral Investig 2012 Jan 31. Epub ahead of print.