Solomon Olusegun Nwhator et al 352 AbstrAct Objectives: 1. To investigate the relationship between periodontitis and infertility. 2. To evaluate the importance of oral hygiene to general health. Materials and methods: Eighty-six men requiring seminal fuid analysis as part of an on-going investigation for infertility in their spouses were serially recruited into the study. Basic dental and periodontal examination were performed. Each participant was also screened for periodontitis using a lateral fow immunoassay kit which detected levels of active membrane metalloproteinase-8. Results were read-off as a color change. Due to some incomplete entries, only 76 participants were involved in the fnal data analysis. Results: There were 55 subjects with subnormal counts (of which ten were found to be azoospermic, 41 oligospermic) and 25 normospermic controls. A positive association was found between periodontitis and subnormal sperm count in only one age group but statistically signifcant association was found between poor oral hygiene and subnormal sperm count across all age groups. Conclusion: For the frst time, there appears to be a signifcant association between poor oral and subnormal sperm count. There also appears to an association between chronic periodon- titis and subnormal sperm count. These relationships warrant further investigation. Original research 10.5005/jp-journals-10024-1542 Another reason for Impeccable Oral Hygiene: Oral Hygiene-sperm count Link 1 solomon Olusegun Nwhator, 2 Kehinde A Umeizudike, 3 Patricia O Ayanbadejo, 4 Olanrewaju I Opeodu 5 Joseph A Olamijulo, 6 timo sorsa 1 Senior Consultant, 2,4 Lecturer and Consultant, 3 Senior Lecturer and Consultant, 5 Lecturer, 6 Professor and Chief Physician 1 Department of Preventive Dentistry, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria 2,3 Department of Preventive Dentistry, University of Lagos Lagos, Nigeria 4 Department of Periodontology and Community Dentistry University of Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria 5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria 6 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, University of Helsinki, Helsinki Corresponding Author: Solomon Olusegun Nwhator Senior Consultant, Department of Preventive Dentistry University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria, Phone: +2348093690829, e-mail: periodontologist2010@gmail.com Principal fndings: There appears to be a link between poor oral hygiene and low sperm count. Keywords: Poor oral hygiene, Low sperm count, Nigeria. How to cite this article: Nwhator SO, Umeizudike KA, Ayanbadejo PO, Opeodu OI, Olamijulo JA, Sorsa T. Another Reason for Impeccable Oral Hygiene: Oral Hygiene-Sperm Count Link. J Contemp Dent Pract 2014;15(3):352-358. Source of support: Nil Confict of interest: None declared PrActIcAL ImPLIcAtIONs fOr GeNerAL DeNtAL PrActIce Infertility is such a stressful condition, hence, every bit of evidence ought to be investigated. If the association uncove- red in the present study is suffciently corroborated by future studies, urgent public enlightenment efforts need to be made to correct this simple problem. Dentists and hygienists often face an uphill task convinc- ing men to maintain good oral hygiene. It is possible that men are not really aware of the social implications of poor oral hygiene apart from embarrassment from halitosis and an unsightly smile. Should a link between poor oral hygiene and I infertility problems be established, the general dental practitioner and the hygienist will become armed with another tool—a strong one-which could fnally gain the attention of men to attend to their oral hygiene. bAcKGrOUND Oral hygiene has always been encouraged for the purpose of good oral health and its attendant social benefts. These benefts have in recent years been extended to general health in aspects previously considered inconsequential to oral health. More lately, one of these general health aspects that is attracting attention happens to be fertility. This gives the oral health practitioner another reason to encourage excellent oral hygiene practices especially among men—often guilty of oral hygiene neglect! Infertility is defned as the inability of a couple to have child- ren despite 12 months of regular, unprotected sexual inter- course. 12 The World Health Organization recognizes inferti- lity as a global problem with estimates ranging between JcDP