Can a Mothers Bad Gums Reduce Her Babys Weight?
One in ten U.S. babies is born too small or too early. We know about the effects of premature birth: health and developmental problems for the infants as they grow up, several billion dollars in neonatal intensive care costs each year. But could the health of their mothers’ gums be one of the causes? Research in the last few years has strongly suggested that it is, and now researchers are trying to learn whether treating gum disease, or periodontal disease, in expectant mothers can reduce risks of preterm delivery and growth restriction in their babies. “The rate of preterm delivery has not decreased at all in the last forty years,” says Steven Offenbacher, professor of periodontology in the School of Dentistry. “Obstetrics has a long history of things that seem associated with preterm birth — but when you try to intervene, nothing happens,” adds his colleague, James Beck, professor of dental ecology in the dentistry school. This time, though, the two researchers and their U.S. and int
