Recent pregnancy and self-reported gingival bleeding: Evidence from a national sample

Gingivitis is associated with pregnancy, yet this relationship has not been quantified in large, community-dwelling samples. Such samples offer the opportunity to examine the utility of self-reported oral health measures by examining associations with known risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of pregnancy status with self-reported gum bleeding in a nationally representative (United States) cohort.

A total of 14,107 female participants aged 18-44 in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study waves 4-7 (collected 2016-2023) contributed 36,201 total observations, including 1348 observations when currently pregnant and 3025 when pregnant within the past 12-months (not currently). Survey-weighted, multivariable logistic regression models estimated cross-sectional associations between pregnancy and self-reported past 12-month gum bleeding. Also, multivariable conditional logistic regression models estimated within-person associations between pregnancy and gum bleeding for participants observed both when pregnant and not pregnant.

Gum bleeding prevalence was 35.9% when participants had been pregnant in the past 12 months (currently or not) and 31.1% otherwise. Adjusted for all covariables, odds of gum bleeding when currently pregnant were 1.64 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35, 1.99) times those when not pregnant in the past 12 months. Among women observed both when pregnant and when not pregnant, adjusted odds of gum bleeding when pregnant within the past 12 months were 1.45 (95% CI: 1.29, 1.64) times those when not pregnant.

The results also support the construct validity of self-reported gum bleeding for epidemiologic studies, which may complement clinical measures while being more feasible to collect in population surveillance.