How dental work helps baby
Wednesday September 15th, 2010
Pregnant women and their babies may benefit from the care of a dentist, researchers revealed today.
A
new study links gum disease to premature birth.
Researchers say a successful course of treatment can help prevent a baby being born early.
According to the American study, the treatment must be successful in removing gum infection in order to prevent premature birth. A simple visit to the dentist is not enough.
The findings come from a study of more than 300 women with gum disease.
Half the women had treatment but this made little difference to the risk of babies being born early. Some 45 per cent of these women experienced premature labour compared with 52 per cent of the untreated women.
Just 49 women were reported as having had successful treatment - and only four of these went into labour early, just eight per cent.
Most of the women were of African origin.
The findings are reported today in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Researcher Professor Marjorie Jeffcoat, of the University of Pennsylvania, USA said the researchers were "very excited" about their findings.
Journal editor Professor Philip Steer said the findings highlighted the need for more effective treatment for gum disease.
He said: "This new study shows a strong link between unsuccessful gum disease treatment and preterm birth.
"However, we need to bear in mind that 69 per cent of women failed to respond to the dental treatment given.
"Therefore more effective treatment will need to be devised before we can be sure that successful treatment improves outcome, rather than simply being a marker of pregnancies with a lower background level of inflammation that will go to term anyway.
"It is important that pregnant women are given advice on dental treatment, however it is also important to note that there are many other causes of preterm birth that should also be tackled, such as smoking, excess alcohol consumption and obesity."
Jeffcoat M, Parry S, Sammel M, Clothier B, Catlin A, Macones G. Periodontal infection and preterm birth: successful periodontal therapy reduces the risk of preterm birth. BJOG 2010; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2010.02713.x.
Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | MRSA & Hygiene | North America | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
Printer friendly page