Objective: To evaluate the systemic and periodontal conditions, as well as the determinants of health in pregnant women with and without obesity/overweight during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and after delivery.
Materials and methods: In the second trimester (T1), 93 pregnant women were divided into two groups with either excessive weight (G1, n = 53) or normal weight (G2, n = 40) and subsequently examined them in the third trimester of pregnancy (T2) and at least 2 months after delivery (T3). The following variables were analyzed: (a) systemic impairments during pregnancy-arterial hypertension (AH) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); (b) oral hygiene behavior; (c) periodontal conditions; (d) anthropometric data and systemic health condition after pregnancy. The Mann-Whitney test, chi-squared test, ANOVA, and binary logistic regression were adopted (p < 0.05).
Results: G1 showed higher frequency of GDM and AH in T1 and T2, respectively (p = 0.047; p = 0.004). Both groups had worse oral hygiene behaviors after delivery. A higher frequency of periodontitis was found in all periods for G1 (p < 0.05). G2 showed improvement of all periodontal parameters after delivery, whereas G1 showed no difference regarding these parameters between time periods.
Conclusion: Pregnant women with excessive weight presented worse systemic and periodontal conditions during pregnancy and after delivery.
Clinical relevance: Low socioeconomic level and overweight/obesity were significant predictors of periodontitis during pregnancy and after delivery.
Keywords: Diabetes, gestational; Hypertension; Obesity; Periodontitis; Pregnancy.