Mothers with gum disease are six times more likely to have premature or low birth-weight babies

Gum disease in mothers-to-be can cause the following:

• Premature babies

• Small babies

• Increased tooth decay in the children

• Increased risk of pre-eclampsia

If mothers have periodontal disease during pregnancy which goes untreated, their children are 4 times as likely to have tooth decay as those whose mothers had better dental health.

According to a study published in the Journal of Periodontology, taking care of gum disease, such as gingivitis, can reduce the likelihood of premature birth by as much as 68%.

During pregnancy (or whilst taking some oral contraceptives) the elevated levels of oestrogen and progesterone can cause bacteria in plaque to react differently to normal, and this can lead to gingivitis.

The main symptoms of gingivitis are:

• bleeding gums when you brush your teeth

• red and swollen gums

The bacteria in the plaque create toxic pockets of infection. These toxins produced by the bacteria attack the gums, ligaments and bone which surround the teeth, and can cause a tooth to be lost. This helps to explain the popular saying that women lose one tooth per child.

The gum infection may cause your body to produce an elevated level of the prostaglandins which control smooth muscle contraction. One theory is that if the level is elevated too early in the pregnancy, as a result of the bacterial infection in the gums, the body may think it's time to go into labour, resulting in a baby which is born too early or too small.

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