Periodontal and gingival changes amongst pregnant women in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To assess the periodontal and gingival changes during different stages of pregnancy among women in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital.

Method : Fifty three pregnant women attending the ante-natal clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), were included in the study while, 53 non- pregnant with mean age 29.40 ± 3.8years, and apparently healthy women with mean age 30.96 ±2.3years served as the control. Periodontal and oral hygiene status were assessed using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) and the Simplified Oral Hygiene (OHI-S) Indices respectively.

Result: There were a higher number of sextants with gingival bleeding and shallow pockets among the pregnant women in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy compared to that of the non-pregnant women. The number of sextants with gingival bleeding and shallow pocket however reduced post partum. Thus, in the pregnant women the mean number of sextants with gingival bleeding was 0.9 in 1st trimester, 1.4 in the 2nd trimester, 1.0 in the 3rd trimester and 0.1 postpartum. The mean number of sextants with pocket (code 3) was 0.1 in the 1st trimester, 0.4 in the 2nd trimester, 0.3 in the in 3rd trimester & 0.1 postpartum. Whereas in the non- pregnant group, the mean no of sextants with gingival bleeding was 0.6 at the 1st examination ,0.5 at the 2nd examination and 0.4 at the 3rd examinations and the mean number of sextants with pocket was 0.1at the 1st examination, 0.2 at the 2nd and 3rd examination. The mean OHI-S score of pregnant women increased from 2.36 ± 0.91 at the beginning of the study to 3.03±0.72 at the end of the study. While the score of the control group increased from 2.06±1.1 to 2.65±0.99.

Conclusion: The OHI-S score, gingival bleeding and pockets were higher in the pregnant than in the non –pregnant women. It is suggested that pregnant women should have routine dental check-up and early management of periodontal disease through adequate plaque control.