Periodontal Status of Women with Hypertension in Postpartum– Preliminary Study

Chronic hypertension, as well as, periodontitis, presents an inflammatory component, suggesting that these diseases may be associated. Objective: The present study aimed to study the periodontal status of women with chronic hypertension (Case Group) and compare to healthy women (Control Group), both in postpartum period. Methods: Thirty no-smoking women in postpartum period were included in the study. The Case Group was composed by 15 women diagnosed as chronic hypertension and the Control Group by 15 healthy women. The groups were paired by age. The individuals were submitted to an anamnesis questionnaire and full-mouth periodontal clinical examination at six sites per tooth, which included plaque (PI), gingival (GI), calculus (CI) and suppuration (SI) indexes, bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment level (CAL). Individuals who presented > 10% of teeth with PD and/or CAL ≥ 5mm and BOP were diagnosed with periodontitis. Statistical analyses were carried out applying SPSS software and Mann-Whitney U test was performed with a significance level of 5%. Results: The mean age in the Case Group was 29.80 yrs and in the Control Group was 28.33 yrs (p>0.05). In both groups, 66.6% of individuals were diagnosed as having periodontitis (p>0.05) and no periodontal parameters showed significant difference between them. However, when individuals with periodontitis regardless of the group were compared to individuals without periodontitis, significant difference was observed for PD, CAL, PI, GI, SI and CI (p<0.05). Conclusion:  The present investigation showed that women in postpartum period with or without hypertension presented the same prevalence of periodontitis. Nevertheless, considering that this is a preliminary study, other parameters, such as oral hygiene habits, medication and saliva composition must be considered in order to explore a potential association between periodontal disease and hypertension. This research was financially suported by Capes and Faperj (Brazil).