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Podcast: Dr. Chapa’s OBGYN Clinical Pearls
Episode: Chewing Gum to Prevent Preterm Birth! Maybe.
Description: In the United States, more than 400,000 babies are born
prematurely each year, which is about 1 in 10 babies. Over the last several decades, multiple studies have shown a link between poor oral health and increased occurrence of preterm birth. Researchers have looked at various ways
to improve dental health during pregnancy, including doing a “deep-teeth cleaning” (also called ‘scaling and planing’), which involves removing plaque and tarter on the teeth and below the gum line. However, despite improving
periodontitis, deep teeth cleaning approaches have not proven to be effective in the prevention of preterm birth. But now new data has discovered...