Influence of maternal periodontal disease as a risk factor for low birth weight infants in Indian population.

BACKGROUND Low birth weight is a known problem worldwide and appears to be more pronounced in developing countries. In view of the implication of periodontal infection as one of the risk factors for low birth weight and considering the fact that in India only very few studies are conducted in this regard, the present study was conducted to determine whether maternal periodontal disease can act as a risk factor for low birth weight babies. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study group consisted of 62 primiparie mothers including 12 low birth weight cases who satisfied the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The age of the patients ranged from 18 to 37 years with a mean age of 23.27 years. Birth weight of the babies ranged from 1.64 to 3.75 kg and the mean weight was 2.67 Kg. Mean weight, height and body mass index (BMI) of the mothers were 53.47 Kg, 1.51 m, 23.48 respectively. RESULTS Birth weight of the babies was regressed against age, BMI, plaque index (PI) and community periodontal index (CPI). Periodontitis was significantly associated (p < 0.0005) with a decrease of birth weight. CONCLUSION Periodontal disease was significantly related to preterm low birth weight.