Oral Health Care Habits and its Role in Preventing Adverse Prenancy Outucomes in Rwanda

ABSTRACT

More than 20 million infants in the world (15.5 of all births) are born preterm with low birth weight (PLBW). Ninety-five of them are in developing countries and the rate of PLBW in developing countries is more than double (16.5) that in developed countries. It has been suggested that oral infection can act as the site of origin for dissemination of periodontopathogens and their toxins as well as induce inflammatory mechanisms to distant body sites; thus linking periodontal diseases to pre-term delivery of low birth weight (PLBW) infants. The objective of this study was to assess the general oral health care habit of pregnant mothers in order to determine its association with premature delivering of low birth weight infants.Methods: Study participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to obtain information regarding their oral health care habits and the responses linked to their gestation term and time of delivery. In addition; their mouths were examined for gingival inflammation and / or bleeding which might be attributed to lack of oral health care. Results and conclusion: Although in this study oral health care habits of the mothers did not appear to directly influence the gestation period and birth weight of the infants; the resulting gingival inflammation and bleeding showed a significant correlation with PLBW (p = 0.004). Therefore maternal dental care during pregnancy and good oral hygiene habits could be highly recommended. Also more detailed examination and assessment of the oral health status of mothers with particular emphasis on periodontal disease and its association with adverse pregnancy outcomes are needed