Mothers Oral Health Affects Newborn
Reported April 1, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A new study shows a pregnant womans oral health is important to the health of her newborn.
Researchers found pregnant women with high levels of an oral bacterium have a greater risk for delivering pre-term. The principal investigator in this study, Ananda P. Dasanayake, M.D., says a pregnant womans oral bacteria can travel to the uterus as transient bacteria, which can potentially cause a pre-term delivery.
Researchers assessed bacteria levels in nearly 300 women who were in their third trimester of pregnancy. They found a higher level of the bacteria A. naeslundii gsp2 was linked to low-birth weight and pre-term delivery.
Vincent J. Iacono, DMD, president of the American Academy of Periodontology, says, Whats interesting is that the research shows that for each 10-fold increase in A. naeslundii gsp2 levels, there was a 0.13-pound decline in birth weight and a 0.17-week decrease in gestational age.
Pre-term delivery is defined as completing only 37 weeks of pregnancy or less before giving birth. Babies born prematurely have a greater risk of death and disability. Between 1982 and 2002, the number of pre-term deliveries increased by 27 percent.
Iacono concludes, Future studies should evaluate both oral bacteria and bacteria that are not related to periodontal diseases to better understand this potential important link between periodontal status and prematurity.
Source: Journal of Periodontology, 2005; 6:218-220