October 2012

Objectives: To study whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment has any effect on women's pre-existing periodontal status and, if pre-existing women's periodontal status has any impact on IVF outcomes, such as superovulation for multiple follicles maturation, oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer, as well as on pregnancy and its outcomes. Methods: Sixty women aged 29 to 41 years were recruited in the study. Gingival inflammation (simplified gingival index, GI-S), plaque levels (plaque control record index, PCR), bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing depth (PD), were recorded for all participants before and after IVF. Blood tests were performed prior to IVF. Results: A statistically significant increase in GI-S after IVF was observed in all women (31.9 ± 18.7% to 61.7 ± 23.5%), and was higher in women with gingivitis (37.1 ± 5.7% to 77.6 ± 6.7%). Women with periodontitis demonstrated a statistically significant increase in BOP (67.7 ± 6.6% to 89.5 ± 7.1%), and in the sum of probing pocket depths (from 243.8 ± 56.2 mm to 250.5 ± 58.3 mm). A trend for negative correlation between the number of follicles and transferred embryos and the gingival index, before and after IVF respectively, was recorded in all women. There was a similar trend with bleeding on probing after IVF in women with periodontitis. Conclusions: Periodontal clinical parameters worsened in women undergoing IVF treatment. On the other hand, a poor pre-existing periodontal status seems to be associated with poorer outcomes of IVF treatment.