Niloofar Jenabian
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a systemic disorder identified with glucose intolerance, which is first diagnosed during gestation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential association between GDM and periodontitis. 157 pregnant women (53 with GDM and 104 without GDM) at 24-28 weeks of gestation were recruited for the study. GDM was diagnosed according to the guidelines of the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADSPG) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) (≥ 140 mg/dL). Periodontitis was defined as the presence of ≥ 4 teeth having at least one site with periodontal pocket depth (PPD) ≥ 4mm, clinical attachment loss ≥ 3mm along with bleeding on probing (BOP). Quantitative variables were analyzed through student t-test, and qualitative variables were assessed through chi-square analysis. P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Pregnant women with GDM showed significantly higher levels of BOP in comparison with the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of periodontitis was 58.5% and 49.0% among GDM-infected women and healthy controls, respectively. However, the prevalence of periodontitis is higher in the GDM group; the difference is not designated to be significant (P = 0.26). Furthermore, a significantly higher incidence of the previous history of diabetes mellitus was mentioned in the GDM group (47.2%) than the control group (25.0%) (P < 0.005). Despite a higher incidence of periodontitis among the individuals of the GDM group, the association between GDM and periodontitis was not statistically significant.