Review Finds Better Birth Outcomes after Gum Treatment

Review Finds Better Birth Outcomes after Gum Treatment
June 14, 2011
By Nancy Volkers
InteliHealth News Service
INTELIHEALTH -- Women with periodontal disease who get treatment during their pregnancy have lower risks of giving birth too soon or having a very small baby.
That was the conclusion of a review of 10 published studies in this area. Australian researchers did the review.
A total of 5,645 pregnant women were involved. All of them had periodontal disease. The studies compared those who received periodontal treatment during pregnancy with those who did not. The studies looked at one or more of these pregnancy problems:
• Premature (early) birth (before 37 weeks of pregnancy)
• Low birth weight (under 2.5 kilograms, or about 5.5 pounds)
• Stillbirth
All 10 trials looked at premature birth. The researchers combined all of the results. They found that periodontal treatment reduced the odds of having a premature baby by 65%.
Seven trials looked at low birth weight babies. Periodontal treatment reduced the odds of having a low birth weight baby by almost half.
Women who were otherwise at low risk of having an early birth or a very small baby appeared to benefit more from periodontal treatment. Among these women, treatment reduced the risk of both pregnancy problems by 65%.
Eight studies looked at stillbirth. Periodontal treatment did not affect the odds having a stillbirth for this group of studies. But researchers also took a look just at the studies with at least 500 women enrolled. In these larger studies, they did find an effect. Periodontal treatment reduced the odds of stillbirth by almost half.
Hormonal changes can affect the mouth. For this reason, women are at higher risk for gingivitis and periodontal disease during pregnancy.
Why would periodontal treatment reduce the risks of pregnancy problems? Researchers have several theories.
Treatment reduces the number of bacteria in the mouth. This lowers the chances of bacteria getting into the blood. Once bacteria are in the blood, they can infect other areas of the body, including the genital area and placenta.
Another possibility is that having fewer bacteria in the mouth will lessen the body's immune response to these bacteria. The immune response can produce molecules that are linked with labor and premature birth. Some of these molecules also can restrict blood flow to the placenta. This can hamper growth and lead to a low birth weight baby.
The study appears in the June issue of the International Journal of Evidence-Based Health Care.