Pregnant Women Can Avoid Preterm Delivery by Using Mouthwash Regularly

According to March of Dimes, approximately 13% of the babies born in the United States are delivered prematurely.

Babies who are born earlier than their term will generally suffer from several health complications such as infections, brain bleeding or breathing complications.

Researchers and doctors have reached a certain consent according to which babies are born prematurely mainly because there is an infection in the body of the mother during pregnancy.

One of the most common such infections is gum disease (or gingivitis). However, if the pregnant woman gets proper treatment for her gum disease complication, preterm birth can be avoided.

Quite recently there has been published a study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, according to which preterm labor directly connected to dental disease, can be avoided trough an effective and simple treatment.

The study run by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania involved 71 pregnant women who have been diagnosed with gingivitis.

The women were separated into 2 groups; one group was asked to rinse with an alcohol-free mouthwash two times per day, while the other group rinsed with plain water.

According to the results, women who have rinsed using a mouthwash had a premature delivery rate of 1 in 20. On the other hand, women who have rinsed their mouths with plain water showed an incidence of premature birth of 1 in 5.

Therefore, it has been concluded that women who actually use mouthwash two times per day, will reduce their risk of delivering preterm by almost 75%.

Then, besides a much lower risk of delivering preterm babies, women in the control group using the mouthwash did also experience a smaller rate of gum inflammation or bleeding of the gums. In order to reduce the risk of preterm delivery, pregnant women should always seek prenatal care and counseling early in their pregnancy stage. Besides proper nutrition, and prenatal care in general, it has been medically proved that oral hygiene also plays a very important role for the general health well being in how the pregnancy will develop.