WOMEN with severe gum disease are up to seven times more likely to have
premature babies. This means that poor oral health could pose as big a risk to a
pregnant woman as smoking or drinking, suggests a new study from Alabama.
Smaller studies have previously hinted at a correlation between bad gums and
premature birth. But Marjorie Jeffcoat and her team at the Alabama University
School of Dentistry in Birmingham is looking at a much larger set of pregnant
women, 1313 so far. Their study shows that those with poor oral health are
significantly more likely to give birth…
