Does periodontal treatment reduce the prevalence of preeclampsia?
Dr. Lavelle: The facts listed above can now be used to address the rhetorical headline in the U.S. News and World Report (dated 1/29/09), that proclaimed “treating gum disease does not decrease a pregnant woman’s risk for preterm births” (i.e., preeclampsia: a vascular disorder of pregnancy that complicates approximately 5% to10% of all pregnancies, and is a major cause for maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity worldwide). Certainly preeclampsia is generally initiated by infections, vascular disease, and over-distension of the uterus, where the principal risk factors include advanced maternal age, multiple pregnancies, obesity, hypertension, kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and tobacco abuse and periodontal disease are synonymous with those for low-grade systemic chronic inflammatory or para-inflammatory states.4 This was confirmed by the fact that women with severe periodontitis (15 tooth sites with pocket depths 4 mm) have more than twice the risk for preeclampsia than per
