We designed this study for the purpose of determining the relationship between periodontal disease activity and PLBW, using the evaluation of probing pocket depth, loss of attachment, gingival index, gingival crevicular fluid amount and subgingival microflora.

A total of 100 volunteer mothers(mean age 30.44) at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Seoul National University Hospital were selected for this study.Pregnancy outcomes were categorized into cases and controls in two ways. our definition was based on the following;

Group 1 : Any PLBW cases Vs. All NBW controls

Group 2 : PLBW cases Vs. NBW controls

A periodontal exam was performed on the Ramfjord(#16, 21, 24, 36, 41, 44) teeth and Clinical evaluation consisted of probing pocket depth, loss of attachment, gingival index and gingival crevicular fluid amount.

Subgingival plaque samples were collected by three sterile #35 paper points. The total number of anaerobic colonies and aerobic bacteria were enumerated after incubation.

Antisera to P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, A. actinomycetemcomitans were produced in white rabbits with live whole cells suspensions. The specific fluorescent bacteria obtained by immunofluorescence and total cell counts obtained by dark-field microscopy were counted on four fields. The percent of each specific microorganism in the total cell count was determined.

Any PLBW and PLBW cases showed significantly greater probing depth and attachment loss than all NBW and NBW controls. Cases group had significantly increased anaerobic bacterial counts compared with control group and no differences in the other microbes. This study confirmed that periodontal disease is a statistically significant risk factor for PLBW by investigating clinical parameters and subgingival plaque analysis.