Mathematical Modeling of Obstetric Variables: Influence of COVID-19, Periodontal Disease and Dental Care During Pregnancy
<b>Background:</b> Systemic inflammatory factors may be altered by periodontitis and/or COVID-19, potentially increasing the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, a relationship that remains unclear. <b>Objective:</b> This study aimed to identify associations between periodontitis and COVID-19 during pregnancy, evaluating the influence of dental care on obstetric variables through set theory and probability. <b>Methods:</b> A quantitative, cross-sectional, and correlational study was conducted in two phases. The first phase analyzed 156 medical records from 5 institutions, including gynecological and periodontal data; the second phase examined 104 records from a single institution selected for data completeness (2020-2021). Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, chi-square tests, and odds ratios were applied. Set operations (union, intersection) and relative probabilities were calculated using R and Excel. Sets represented dental care, dental disease, COVID-19 diagnosis, gestational age, neonatal weight, and complications. <b>Results:</b> In Phase 1, 37% of pregnant women were COVID-19-positive, 44% vaccinated, 51.9% underwent cesarean section, and 5.12% had periodontitis. In Phase 2, 76 pregnant women did not receive dental care, while 28 did; among them, 6 were COVID-19-positive. Mean neonatal weight ranged from 2336 g (dental care) to 2271 g (no dental care). COVID-19-positive pregnant women showed fewer complications and a higher proportion of normal-weight neonates. Gingivitis was the most frequent periodontal condition (75%). No statistically significant differences were observed between the analyzed sets. Conclusions: no direct relationship was found between periodontitis and neonatal weight in COVID-19-positive cases. Dental care did not influence maternal-fetal outcomes. The methodology provides an innovative framework for clinical analysis through mathematical abstraction.
Authors
- Nelly S. Roa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9884-9242)
- Catalina Correa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4998-1228)
- Juliana Velosa Porras (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1387-1935)
- Javier Mauricio Mora Méndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6722-1981)
- Francina María Escobar Arregocés (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4069-4719)
- Signed Prieto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7896-231X)
- Jessian Louis Munoz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0431-5280)
- Jairo Javier Jattin Balcázar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1401-2710)
- Olga L. Ospina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4676-3295)
- Katherine Reyes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2750-7956)
- Catalina Latorre Uriza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1011-4450)
- Pablo Fernández Rojas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8017-9422)
- Leonardo Bonilla Cortés (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2545-9411)
- Laura C Ortiz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0810-0894)
Institutions
- Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Israel) (IL)
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (CO)
- National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (CO)
- Federación Colombiana de Obstetricia y Ginecología (CO)
- Secretaría de Salud de Bogotá (CO)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Biomedicines
- Published
- 2025-11-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13122919
- Primary Topic
- Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00