Very low and low birth weight associated with maternal periodontitis

Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of very low and low birth weight ( VLBW and LBW ) with maternal periodontitis. Material and Methods Overall, 1206 women were examined at post‐partum and two alternative criteria for periodontitis definition were used: (1) four or more teeth with at least one site with probing depth ( PD ) ≥4 mm and clinical attachment loss ( CAL ) ≥3 mm; and (2) at least one site with PD and CAL ≥4 mm. For each definition, two multivariate analyses were performed: (1) linear regression for birth weight; (2) ordinal logistic regression for birth weight, categorized as adequate ( n  = 1046), LBW ( n  = 145) and VLBW ( n  = 15). Results Linear regression showed that maternal periodontitis was associated with a decrease in mean birth weight (periodontitis definition 1: p  = 0.027; periodontitis definition 2: p  = 0.003). Ordinal logistic regression showed that maternal periodontitis was associated with LBW and VLBW [odds ratio ( OR ) = 2.0; 95% confidence interval ( CI ) 1.39–2.90, when considering periodontitis definition 2]; and with LBW ( OR  = 1.65; 95% CI 1.15–2.36, when considering periodontitis definition 1). Conclusion Maternal periodontitis was associated with a decrease in mean birth weight, as well as with LBW and VLBW .