Maternal oral health affects a baby both before and after birth. Here’s how:
Maternal periodontal disease is associated with preterm deliveries and low birth weight babies. Three periodontal disease bacteria have been found in amniotic fluid of women who delivered preterm. These bacteria include F. Nucleatum, P. Gingivalis and Bergeyella species. It’s thought that 18 percent of preterm, low birth weight deliveries are related to periodontal disease
- Mutans is the causative bacteria for dental caries. The higher the levels of maternal S. Mutans, the greater the risk of the infant being colonized. Transmission of S. Mutans from mother to infant is well documented. In multiple reports, genotypes of S. Mutans in infants appeared identical to their mothers, ranging from 24 to 100 percent. If a mother has high levels of S. Mutans, her infant is 10 times more likely to become infected. It’s also interesting to note that a mother’s history of having a dental abscess in her life is directly correlated to her child having an acute dental problem.
It is safe for mothers to receive dental care during pregnancy. Research has shown that adverse pregnancy outcomes of women who received dental treatment during their pregnancy did not differ from the general population.
In 2011, 29 respected organizations issued a National Consensus Statement on dental care during pregnancy. It stated that oral health care, including use of radiographs, pain medication and local anesthetic is safe throughout pregnancy.