Effects of oral contraceptives intake on the gingiva

The use of contraceptive medication has been shown to increase gingival inflammatory reacting to local irritants. To determine the effect of oral contraceptive pills and the duration of drug intake on the plaque index, gingival index and probing depth. A total of 30 women of the age group 19-40 years attending a primary health care center in Al-Ramadi city were selected and permitted to start taking contraceptive pills. Three visits were arranged of three months interval between the visits. Plague index, gingival index and probing depth were measured at the three visits. The results revealed a significant difference in the mean plaque index and the mean gingival index among the three visits. Regarding the probing depth, 23.3%of women had pocket depth of 4 and 5 mm and this percentage was the same for the three visits. Results indicate that women taking contraceptive pills had increasing mean of plaque and gingival indices with increasing the duration of drug intake. Probing depth was found the same through the three visits