Dental Hygiene Care and Successful Infertility Treatment
Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:34 pm (PST)
Dental Hygiene Care and Successful Infertility Treatment
The care that dental hygienists provide, is not only helping to save lives, but now dental hygienists may be helping to create lives! It's hard to believe, but according to recent research, it might be true.
Table 1:
WHAT THE RESEARCH SHOWS:
According to a 2004 study, women participating in infertility treatment for more that three cycles had higher levels of gingival inflammation, bleeding and gingival crevicular fluid. The severity of the gingival inflammation is strongly associated with the duration of the usage of the drugs.1
The AAP recognizes the significance of this research. Michael Rethman, DDS, MS, and AAP President states "It is reasonable to assume that if low levels of plaque are established and maintained during the infertility treatment, gingival inflammation would not effect the success of infertility treatment. This would require meticulous oral hygiene and routine professional cleanings, perhaps at the beginning of each menstrual cycle to ensure the presence of healthy gums."2
Dental professionals are the first line of defense in combating and preventing periodontal bacterial infections. These same bacteria may be responsible for interfering with successful infertility treatments. This research reflects the importance of the dental hygienists' role in educating and treating women planning to conceive.
Let's take a look at the latest age statistics (see Table 2) of
women giving birth.3
Here we can see that there is a huge span of age groups having babies.
Mother's age 18 19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44
Births 117,750 162,466 1.032,305 1,086,366 975,456 467,642 101,055
23%with Periodontal Disease N/A N/A N/A N/A 224,354 107,557 23,242
Table 2:
Some of the women in the older age groups may be biologically challenged. In addition, 23% of women between the ages of 30-54 have periodontal disease.4 The age dynamic combined with untreated
periodontal disease, creates a double edge sword for women seeking infertility treatment. Not only are these women less likely to have a successful conception but the tissues becomes exacerbated from the
infertility treatment.2 Extra steps should be taken to ensure healthy gums prior to infertility treatments.
It's difficult to imagine adding one more component to the dental hygiene appointment. But since the chances of becoming pregnant may be increased with proper oral hygiene care, our responsibility broadens. With the current research, it's crucial to incorporate what we know with what we do. During the medical history update, include this question for your female patients of child bearing age: "Do you plan to start a family this year?" If the answer to this question is yes, a new dialogue should take place that sounds something like this: "With proper dental hygiene care your chances of conceiving may increase". Remember, it's quite possible that you have the power to indirectly create new lives by the level of care you provide for your patients!
Works cited :
1. www.joponline.org/ "The Effects of Ovulation Induction
During Infertility Treatment on Gingival Inflammation"
2. www.perio.org/consumer/infertility.htm
3. . National Vital Statistics Report, Volume 54, Number 2 4 Journal of
Periodontology in 1999