Dental health identified as major predictor of preterm birth

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 25. December 2024

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SEOUL, South Korea: Identifying risk factors for preterm birth (PTB) is crucial for enabling healthcare providers, parents and policymakers to make informed decisions in order to improve outcomes for infants and their families. In the past, studies on predictors of PTB primarily focused on clinical and environmental factors, often overlooking dental variables. However, researchers in South Korea have found that periodontitis-related parameters are significant predictors of PTB. This underscores the importance of integrating medical and dental assessments into prenatal care protocols to support early interventions and enhance maternal and neonatal health.

The World Health Organization estimates that 13.4 million babies were born prematurely in 2020. In 2019, complications from PTB led to approximately 900,000 child deaths, and many survivors continue to experience lasting challenges, including learning disabilities and visual or hearing impairments.

According to research, periodontitis is widely associated with PTB and pregnancy complications and shares risk factors such as low socio-economic status, high body mass index (BMI), smoking and alcohol consumption, as well as clinical factors, including diabetes and hypertension. While previous studies have suggested a correlation between periodontal disease in expectant mothers and an increased risk of preterm delivery, conclusive evidence has remained elusive.

“What differentiates our study from previous ones is that we added dental factors in addition to the well-known clinical risk factors, including various clinical backgrounds and obstetric histories,” the researchers wrote in their article.

Exploring the role of maternal oral health

The current study analysed data from 60 women who delivered via caesarean section, 30 preterm and 30 full term. Alongside established factors such as pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal age and pre-eclampsia, the researchers assessed five dental predictors of PTB, including the Modified Gingival Index, periodontitis stage and plaque index.

The top five predictors of PTB identified were pre-pregnancy BMI, the Modified Gingival Index, pre-eclampsia, the DMF index and maternal age. Notably, gingival health emerged as the second most significant predictor of PTB risk and the sixth most significant for spontaneous PTB, outperforming well-known medical PTB risk factors such as prior PTB, chronic hypertension and gestational diabetes mellitus.

Despite the study’s limitations, such as its small sample size and exclusion of socio-economic variables, the findings demonstrate strong potential for advancing PTB prediction models. For example, the findings could contribute to the development of guidelines for PTB prediction models and provide critical evidence for early screening and tailored preventive interventions based on these risk factors. Additionally, identifying maternal dental health indicators as significant predictors of PTB highlights the importance of routine dental examinations for pregnant women.

“Future research should focus on validating these predictors in larger populations and exploring interventions to mitigate these risk factors,” the authors concluded.

The study, titled “Clinical and dental predictors of preterm birth using machine learning methods: The MOHEPI study”, was published online on 21 October 2024 in Scientific Reports.