Nwhator S O, Umeizudike K A, Samuel T A, Soroye M O, Umeizudike T I
University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, PMB 228, FCT-Abuja, Nigeria.
West Afr J Med. 2013 Oct-Dec;32(4):267-71.
Increasing evidence in the emerging field of periodontal medicine continues to stimulate research to verify the association between chronic periodontitis and general health. The link between chronic periodontitis and sub-fertility has not been well-investigated except for a handful of reports spanned over several decades.
As a prelude to a series of observational and interventional studies, 119 specialists and doctors participated in an online survey to ascertain their practices and opinions about this link. Our main exposure variables were dental history taking, periodontal/dental referrals and knowledge of possible link between chronic periodontitis and sub-fertility.
RESULTS/FINDINGS: Our findings showed that dental history taking and periodontal/dental referrals were not part of sub-fertility management protocols of Nigerian specialists and doctors. These findings proved true irrespective of basic and postgraduate experience. Specialty was the only explanatory variable that accounted for statistical significance with the main exposure variables but the figures of members of different specialties were too low for any meaningful comparisons.
The findings confirmed our suspicion of an almost complete lack of knowledge of this unlikely yet plausible association which deserves further research.
牙周医学这一新兴领域中越来越多的证据不断推动研究，以证实慢性牙周炎与全身健康之间的关联。除了几十年来的少数几份报告外，慢性牙周炎与生育力低下之间的联系尚未得到充分研究。
作为一系列观察性和干预性研究的前奏，119名专家和医生参与了一项在线调查，以确定他们关于这种联系的做法和看法。我们的主要暴露变量包括询问牙科病史、牙周/牙科转诊以及对慢性牙周炎与生育力低下之间可能联系的了解。
结果/发现：我们的研究结果表明，询问牙科病史和牙周/牙科转诊并非尼日利亚专家和医生生育力低下管理方案的一部分。无论基础经验和研究生经验如何，这些结果都被证明是正确的。专业是唯一与主要暴露变量具有统计学意义的解释变量，但不同专业成员的数量太少，无法进行任何有意义的比较。
研究结果证实了我们的怀疑，即对这种不太可能但看似合理的关联几乎完全缺乏了解，这值得进一步研究。
