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November 28th, 2005

"Pregnant mothers should remember dental health"

Among the many checkups required during prenatal care, pregnant women should also be adding dental care to the list.

According to researchers at the University of Chile in Santiago, after studying 870 pregnant women with gingivitis who were at low risk for delivery problems, they found women whose inflamed gums were treated before 28 weeks of pregnancy had significantly lower rates of premature births and low-birth-weight infants than women with untreated gingivitis.

Researchers are studying the relationship between delivery problems and infections in other parts of the body, but it has been theorized that blood may carry bacteria from the infection site to the placenta, where it produces the inflammatory effect that brings on premature labor.

Since 1985, premature births in the United States have been increasing. Some of the increase is due to the rising number of multiple births, but statistics indicate an increase in prematurity among single births as well.

Prematurity is the leading cause of cerebral palsy, and infants born prematurely may suffer other lifelong medical problems. Preterm births also account for increased infant deaths.

With more than half a million children delivered before 27 weeks gestation in the United States last year, or one in every eight live births, researchers are trying to better identify factors that may be contributing to premature births.