This is an excerpt from a member-only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe.

The evidence keeps mounting that links oral health to systemic health, a development that's already starting to change the design of dental benefits. Here's an update. A study reported in the July Journal of Periodontology (JOP), which evaluated 26 pregnant women with a diagnosis of threatened premature labor, found periodontal bacteria P. gingivalis in both the oral cavity and the amniotic fluid of 30% of the subjects. Any disruption in amniotic fluid, such as a bacterial infection, can be dangerous to both the mother and baby.