Gestational diabetes is associated with a high risk of premature births. Now researchers at the New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry have identified a link between bad teeth and gestational diabetes.

Dr. Ananda P. Dasanayake, professor of epidemiology and health promotion at NYU, and her team of researchers worked with New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center to monitor 256 women throughout the first six months of their pregnancies. Twenty-two of these women were eventually diagnosed with gestational diabetes, a significant number of whom were found to have much higher levels of periodontal bacteria and inflammation than other study participants.

Poor oral hygiene leads to periodontal disease, which is a disease of the gums. Researchers think there is a link between periodontal disease and insulin function. Insulin regulates glucose metabolism, which, when impaired, causes diabetes.

When diabetes develops during pregnancy, complications with the pregnancy can occur and the woman is at increased risk of later developing Type 2 diabetes. People of Asian, Hispanic, and Native American descent are at very high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes at some point during life. The findings of this study suggest the need for more studies of periodontal disease, gestational diabetes, and pregnant women of these ethnicities in particular. In the NYU study, 80% of the study participants were of Hispanic descent.

Dasanayake urges all women who are pregnant or are planning to become pregnant to see a dentist and maintain the very best standards of oral hygiene as possible. She further states that it is safe and effective to treat gum disease during pregnancy and to do so reduces potential risk to both mother and child.

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research provided a grant for the study. Full details of the study have been published in the April issue of the Journal of Dental Research.