Oral health care patterns and the history of miscarriage.

OBJECTIVE: Oral infections can trigger the production of pro-inflammatory mediators that may be risk factors for miscarriage. We investigated whether oral health care patterns that may promote or alleviate oral inflammation were associated with the history of miscarriage in 328 all-Caucasian women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 328 women in this cross-sectional cohort, 74 had history of miscarriage (HMC). Medical, dental and sociodemographic data were collected through clinical examinations, medical record searches and structured questionnaires. RESULTS: The multivariate regression analyses indicated that urgency-based dental treatment demonstrated a significant association [odds ratio (OR) = 2.54; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-5.37; P = 0.01] and preventive dental treatment demonstrated a marginally significant inverse association (OR = 0.53; CI: 0.26-1.06; P = 0.07) with HMC. Self-rated poor oral health had a non-significant positive association with HMC (OR 1.60; CI: 0.88-2.90). CONCLUSION: Our results provide sufficient evidence for hypothesis generation to test whether other precise measures of oral inflammation are associated with adverse birth outcomes.