Could Periodontitis Affect Time to Conception?

BACKGROUND: Chronic periodontitis is gaining increasing prominence as a potential influnce on systemic health. Time to conception has been recently investigated in relation to chronic periodontitis among Caucasians. The authors set out to replicate the study among Nigerian pregnant women. AIM: The etiology of many medical conditions have been linked with the state of the oral health and one of such is the time to conception (TTC) among women. This study was aimed to assess the effect of periodontitis on TTC. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study in a hospital setting involving 58 fertility clinic attendees and 70 pregnant controls using the simplified oral hygiene index, community periodontal index (CPI) and matrix metalloproteinase-8 immunoassay. Statistical analysis used included Spearman's rank order correlation statistic, Z-statistic and logistic regression. RESULTS: Good oral hygiene correlated with shorter TTC (<1 year) than fair oral hygiene, but not statistically significant. The odds of increased conception were higher with CPI (odds ratio [OR]: 0.482, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.259-0.895, P = 0.02), periodontitis risk (OR 0.157, 95% CI 0.041-0.600, P < 0.01) and age (OR 0.842, 95% CI 0.756-0.938, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Chronic periodontitis was positively associated with increased TTC in the present study. The authors are recommending that women in child bearing age should be encouraged to have regular preventive dental check-ups in order to maintain good oral and periodontal health.