Centering Plus Oral Health

Preterm birth is the second leading cause of death in children under I year of age. This project will focus on a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the State and National problem of the preterm birth ofIow birth weight infants that may lead to long term effects on child health, development, and welfare and a huge fmancial burden to family, State and Federal budgets. Poor oral health and inadequate prenatal care and education have been implicated as risk factors for this problem. Kentucky leads the nation in negative birthing outcomes and poor oral health. Through an interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Kentucky between the Center for Oral Health Research of the College of Dentistry and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the College of Medicine, a combined group approach to prenatal care has been developed. Previous studies have demonstrated that a group prenatal approach that has been termed CenteringTM, can lead to improved gestational age and birth weight. In addition, multiple studies have demonstrated that poor periodontal health is associated with a significant increase in the risk of delivery of preterm, low birth weight infants. This new project combines the benefits of Centering and improving oral health and involves up to 10 prenatal and post natal group visits for education, self assessment, and professional intervention that involve a healthcare team of nurse midwives, dental hygienists, physicians and dentists in the overall welfare of the mother and child. We are expecting that this new program will have a combined effect on the rates of preterm birth. Improvements in preterm birth rates of 10% or more are readily achievable and could have a significant effect on the future health of Kentuckians by helping attain the national goals of Healthy People 2010.