Periodontitis may be linked to gestational diabetes

Periodontal disease may increase the risk of gestational diabetes, therefore oral health should be assessed before and during pregnancy. This review study was recently published in Primary Care Diabetes.

Oral health programs for women of childbearing age and pregnant women may be needed to improve maternal metabolic control and reduce complications, the authors wrote.

"The presence of periodontal disease (PD) can be considered to predispose to the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy," wrote the authors, led by Juan Manuel García-Martos of the Medical Clinic Bulevar in Spain (Prim Care Diabetes, December 2, 2024).

PD can worsen insulin resistance and inflammation during pregnancy, increasing the risk of GDM, which is associated with long-term risks like dyslipidemia, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Managing GDM and PD is necessary to prevent pregnancy complications, as both conditions involve inflammatory processes, they wrote.

This systematic review analyzed 11 studies involving 2,032 participants from April 2008 to March 2022 to assess the association between PD and GDM. Using the fixed effects model with the inverse variance method, the analysis showed that PD increases the risk of developing GDM (odds ratio [OR] = 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36 to 2.34), with 40.83% variability between studies. To account for this, the random effects model was applied, confirming PD as a risk factor for GDM (OR = 1.83; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.69; p < 0.0017), according to the study.

However, the study had limitations, including a limited number of relevant published works, the authors wrote.

"The development of specific oral health programs in women with reproductive desires and pregnant women is essential to improve maternal metabolic control and reduce obstetric and perinatal complications," they concluded.