Blog Summary Explore the connection between gum disease and fertility, including how inflammation and oral bacteria affect conception. Learn why maintaining healthy gums and regular dental care are an important part of preparing for pregnancy.
When women prepare to get pregnant, there’s plenty of advice on what to do for their body. Take certain vitamins. Cut back on alcohol. Eat healthier.
But make sure they don’t have gum disease? It’s rarely mentioned.
Can Gum Disease Affect Fertility?
If you’re planning to have a baby in the near future, it’s important to know that there’s a growing body of research linking gum disease and women’s ability to conceive. Although scientists are still studying the extent and nature of that relationship, there’s still good reason to take care of your gums and teeth.
It’s normal for your mouth to have bacteria. Problems begin, though, when bacteria pile up in a film along the teeth and gumline and that plaque is not removed. Your gums may react by bleeding and becoming swollen and red, which are symptoms of gingivitis, a type of gum disease. When that infection moves below the gumline and affects the bone and ligament anchoring your teeth to your jaw, you might develop periodontitis, a more serious condition. Gingivitis can be reversed, while periodontitis is treatable but not reversible.
Can Gum Disease Make It Harder to Get Pregnant
Here's the part that connects the mouth problem to the fertility question. Your body views an infection in your mouth as an attack, triggering your immune system to defend your health by deploying a battalion of cytokines, which are chemical messengers that organize an attack against the infection. These messengers can travel through the bloodstream and from the mouth and reach your ovaries and the lining of your uterus.
Scientists studying fertility have found associations between this kind of persistent immune activity and several conception issues: the lining of the uterus that's less prepared to support implantation of an embryo, irregular ovulation, and changes in the quality of eggs being released. More studies are needed, but a working theory is that the same chemical signals meant to fight bacteria in your mouth cross wires with the hormonal signals of your body that regulate your menstrual cycle and support a pregnancy in its earliest, most fragile days.
Bacteria in the mouth can travel to other parts of the body. In some cases, the bacteria causing gum infections have been found in the fluid in the uterus. The likely route for bacteria is to pass through inflamed and bleeding gums into the bloodstream and travel to the uterus. There, they can cause inflammation, which may make it harder for an embryo to attach and grow, or may create problems further along in a pregnancy.
Why Dental Health Matters Before Pregnancy
Some studies have tracked how long it takes women with periodontal disease to become pregnant compared to women with healthy gums, adjusting for other factors that affect fertility like age and smoking. The pattern that emerges again and again: Women with gum disease tend to take longer to conceive.
None of this means that by itself, gum disease is the reason a woman struggles to get pregnant. An enormous range of factors influence fertility and pregnancy, including age, hormone balance, body weight, stress levels, and underlying health conditions. But the link between gum disease and fertility has been repeated often enough across independent research that there’s every reason to include a dental visit as a sound step in getting ready for pregnancy.
How to Protect Oral Health While Trying to Conceive
Unlike age or genetic history, gum disease is something you can act on. Having healthy gums and teeth before trying to get pregnant may lower the overall inflammatory load your body is carrying at the exact moment your reproductive system needs to function smoothly. It is also one of the more manageable pieces of your overall fertility picture.
Brushing twice daily, flossing every day, and visiting your dentist for a check-up two times a year are a regular part of maintaining your overall health. Now, these habits may have the added benefit of supporting your efforts to get pregnant.
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Smile Generation blog articles are reviewed by a licensed dental professional before publishing. However, we present this information for educational purposes only with the intent to promote readers’ understanding of oral health and oral healthcare treatment options and technology. We do not intend for our blog content to substitute for professional dental care and clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment planning provided by a licensed dental professional. Smile Generation always recommends seeking the advice of a dentist, physician, or other licensed healthcare professional for a dental or medical condition or treatment.
