Periodontal status of pregnant and postpartum mothers aged 18-45 years attending MCH clinics in Tanga Municipality, Tanzania.

One hundred pregnant women and another hundred women post-partum aged 18-45 years were examined at Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinics in Tanga Municipality, to determine their periodontal health status. The sample was selected by using convenient sampling method. Plaque was assessed as absent, score 0 and present, score 1, while calculus, gingivitis, shallow pockets and deep pockets were assessed according to the Community Periodontal Index for Treatment Needs (CPITN), for each of the six sextant examined. Findings were recorded on a special prepared oral health assessment form. Data analysis was done using SPSS Pc+. Results revealed that the majority of women examined had gingival bleeding and plaque on about 50% of the sextants during pregnancy as well as after delivery. Postpartum women in the age group 18-34 years had a higher number of sextants with plaque, calculus and gingivitis than pregnant women in the same age group both in the second and third trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.05). During the third trimester of pregnancy, women in the age group 18-34 had more sextants with plaque, calculus and gingival bleeding than women in the second trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.05). However, in the age group 35-45 women in the second trimester of pregnancy had more sextants with plaque, calculus and gingival bleeding than women in the third trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.05). Women postpartum in all age groups had shallow pockets, while in pregnant women they were found in the age group 25-45 in the second trimester and only in the age group 35-45 in the third trimester.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)