2008 – VOLUME 37 – Issue 1

French medical authorities are formal that premature births represent a major problem in health service. Several causes are evoked to be uterine, placental and infectious. Among incriminated risk factors, certain socieconomic conditions and life habits would moreover favor this pathological phenomenon. Since some years, periodontitis as chronic pathologies of bacterial origin are also suspected as endogenous factors which can increase the probability of premature childbirth incidence. The American surveys, led by Offenbacher's team, were the first to put forward this notion which was later opposed or confirmed by other researchers. The debate is thus far from being closed. The objective of this article is to review an update on this subject which involves dentist's responsibility.