RESEARCH ARTICLE
Causes of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes and the Role of Maternal Periodontal Status – A Review of the Literature
Dr. Jagan Kumar Baskaradoss1, *, Amrita Geevarghese 1, Abdullah Al Farraj Al Dosari2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 79
Last Page: 84
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-6-79
DOI: 10.2174/1874210601206010079
Article History:
Received Date: 2/2/2012Revision Received Date: 26/3/2012
Acceptance Date: 3/4/2012
Electronic publication date: 9/5/2012
Collection year: 2012

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Preterm (PT) and Low birth weight (LBW) are considered to be the most relevant biological determinants of newborn infants survival, both in developed and in developing countries. Numerous risk factors for PT and LBW have been defined in the literature. Infections of the genitourinary tract infections along with various biological and genetic factors are considered to be the most common etiological factors for PT/LBW deliveries. However, evidence suggests that sub-clinical infection sites that are also distant from the genitor-urinary tract may be an important cause for PT/LBW deliveries. Maternal periodontal status has also been reported by many authors as a possible risk factor for PT and LBW, though not all of the actual data support such hypothesis. The aim of this paper is to review the evidence from various published literature on the association between the maternal periodontal status and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Although this review found a consistent association between periodontitis and PT/LBW, this finding should be treated with great caution until the sources of heterogeneity can be explained.