Periodontitis and preterm delivery. A review of the literature

The aim of this paper was to review the relationship between periodontitis and preterm delivery (PTD). Original papers on this subject, published in English until the first quarter of 2004, were located in the MEDLINE/PubMed database. Additional papers were obtained by searching reference lists of previously published review papers. Case control studies pointed to an association between periodontitis and increased rates of PTD of low birth-weight (LBW) infants. Longitudinal studies showed that the incidence or progression of periodontitis during pregnancy may be an independent risk factor for PTD and LBW. Microbiological, immunological and animal model studies suggested that periodontal pat…