Use of antiseptic mouthrinse during pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes: a randomised controlled clinical trial in rural China.

<bold>Objective: </bold>To determine whether an antimicrobial mouthrinse intervention reduces adverse pregnancy outcomes in a low-resource rural area.<bold>Design: </bold>Randomised controlled trial.<bold>Setting: </bold>A county-level maternal health care hospital in China.<bold>Sample: </bold>Pregnant women of less than 20 weeks of gestation having periodontal disease.<bold>Methods: </bold>Women with periodontal disease were randomised into the intervention (n = 232) and control group (n = 234). Participants in the intervention group were provided with free mouthrinse (alcohol-free mouthrinse containing 0.7% cetylpyridinium chloride) throughout the pregnancy and given education on oral health. Women in the control group only received oral hygiene education. All participants had a periodontal re-examination at the third trimester and were followed-up to childbirth.<bold>Main Outcome Measures: </bold>The primary outcome was gestational age. Secondary outcomes included birthweight, periodontal disease score, pregnancy complications (small-for-gestational-age, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetic mellitus, severe anaemia, premature rupture of membrane).<bold>Results: </bold>The general periodontal status of the intervention group at the third trimester was significantly better than that of the control group (measured by periodontal disease score: 11.26 ± 3.60 versus 11.92 ± 3.01; P = 0.04). There was no difference in pregnancy outcome between the two groups except for premature rupture of the membranes. The women in the intervention group had a significantly reduced risk of premature rupture of the membranes compared with the control group (1.4 versus 5.7%, OR = 0.23, 95% CI 0.07-0.84; P = 0.03).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>The mouthrinse intervention during pregnancy improved periodontal health. The intervention did not lead to a change in gestational age but it reduced the rate of premature membrane rupture. Further studies are needed to explore the biological mechanism of this association.<bold>Tweetable Abstract: </bold>Use of antiseptic mouthrinse during pregnancy may improve maternal oral health and pregnancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]