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• Nutrition and Oral Health in Pregnant Women
• Eating Disorders and Dentistry
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• TMJ Dysfunction Linked to STD's
• Birth Control and Extractions
• Underweight Babies Linked to Gum Disease
• Hormonal Replacement Therapy & Dentistry
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Women's

Underweight Babies Linked to Gum Disease

Recent research by a medical team may show a link between periodontal (gum) infection and the premature delivery of low birth weight (LBW) babies. The team consisted of Periodontist, obstetrician-gynecologists and epidemiologists.

The study, conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and published in the October 1996 issue of the Journal of Periodontology, found that women  who had periodontal disease were seven times more likely to have pre-term low birth weight babies (PLBW) than women who were not affected by the disease. Untreated periodontal disease may be responsible for a large percentage of PLBW in which other previously known risk factors could not be identified.

Today in the United States, 10 percent of newborns are termed as being low birth weight (less than five pounds, eight ounces) and these infants account for five million neonatal intensive care unit days per year at and annual cost of more than five billion   dollars. Low birth weight also has been related to 60 percent of infant deaths.

In addition, 25 percent of PLBW cases occur without the presence of known risk factors such as smoking, genetics, alcohol use, level of prenatal care, nutrition and   urinary tract infection. Stephen Offenbacher, DDS, Ph.D. , professor of the Periodontics, University of North Carolina school of Dentistry and principal author of the study, points to previous studies showing an association between infection and PLBW, specifically focusing on genitourinary infections (GUI). It appears that these infections cause an increased release of inflammatory chemicals which induce labor, thus causing premature delivery before the fetus can grow to a normal birth weight. Given that gum disease is also an infection, the researchers became interested in whether the presence of infection in the gums could affect the fetus or the premature onset of labor.

The research, conducted from 1991 to 1992, studied 124 women who were pregnant or had recently delivered. While the study found a definite association between gum disease and low birth weight babies, this does not necessarily mean that these infections directly caused the premature onset of labor.

This study factored into its analysis a number of known to risk factors-- smoking, drug use, alcohol consumption, prenatal care, nutrition GUI, and number of prior births--so that cases could be isolated where periodontal disease was the defining variable in the outcome of the pregnancy.

Further research, which Dr. Offenbacher and his team are planning, will be conducted using a larger population of pregnant women and will involve studying pregnancies at multiple research centers.

"This study clearly shows that there is an association and that periodontal disease in pregnant women may be a significant risk factor for preterm low birth weight," said James T.Mellonig, DDS, MS, past president of the American Academy of Periodontology. "We think that pregnant women and their obstetricians need to be aware of these findings and to be concerned about periodontal infection that can be detrimental to the health of mother and baby. " If periodontal disease is diagnosed and treated, the study estimates that PLBW may be reduced by 45,500 cases annually.