Oral Health During Pregnancy

Being pregnant is an amazing feeling and while you are already busy taking good care of the ‘yet to born baby, you have some additional responsibilities towards yourself; your oral health is one of them. While expecting a baby, not only the routine changes but also the body of that woman changes for at least the next 9 continuous months. During then, the hormones of a mother sift to a variety of levels, risking different cells and tissues of the body.

While many would still be unaware of the knowledge but our face is considered the mirror of the body; even a simple cause of infection to the teeth and the underlying regions in our oral cavity, might not only affect the mother but the baby as well. Rest the hormones play a big part in creating dental caries, swelling of gum and even causing tumours.

Having regular check-ups with a dentist is taken as safe for both the mother and the fetus. But before any examination of your teeth, you must convey which month you are in when you make your appointment. In case you have some other medical conditions, or a high-risk pregnancy, your physician may recommend the treatment be postponed. Also, let your dentist know about your medications.

While you wait for your new one to arrive, you need to know things to keep the mother healthy from head to toe with the following pregnancy dental care tips:-

1. 1. Brushing is necessary with the IDA-accepted fluoride toothpaste twice daily.
   2. Floss after brushing once daily
   3. Eat balanced diet food which is healthy for your teeth as well as for your embryo.
   4. Visit your dentist for a regular check-up and professional teeth cleaning to prevent bad oral health.
   5. Always keep your dentist informed of any changes in your mouth such as swelling, redness or bleeding.
   6. Know details for controlling plaque, tartar, gum swelling, toothache, and tooth caries.
   7. Use only doctors’ recommend rinsing of mouth wash at night with an antimicrobial mouth rinse.

Take necessary measures for morning sickness, to prevent teeth-health-related problems.

Some of the common symptoms are:

• Morning Sickness

You might be assuming how morning sickness can be related to bad oral health? There have certain connections. Under many types of research, stomach acids cause heartburn by the gastric acid and these reflexes also have bad other relevance.

The stomach acid erodes the tooth and also causes discolouration of the teeth of the mother as well as the fetus. Those incidences of acid refluxes are often created either by food or medicine and sometimes nature is unknown. It not only creates a bad oral smell but also induces nausea and vomiting.

The constant foul odour inside the mouth might also relate to frequent burping and nausea and even vomiting in some cases.

It is best advised to brush followed by rinse thoroughly after such occurrence, this is the only pregnancy health tip your dentist’s recommended toothpaste and mouth wash.

• Pregnancy Gingivitis

There is no wonder that during pregnancy the mother feels heavy with difficult moods and might tend to eat more and crave weirdly meals are different as pickles, etc. These all results from Hormones and with such bodily instincts, there are changes like more plague formation every day in the cervical region of the teeth, also the gums tend to swell leading to a condition called gingivitis. It might also make your gum bleed very often with even a single stroke of your brush.

Therefore, the only resolution to all such problems is maintaining your oral hygiene. The only pregnancy dental care tips in this regard would be professional teeth cleanings until you have your baby. And at home, try to manage the cleaning with regular two-time brushing to reduce the chance of plaque and the formation of tartar. Also, reduce the irritation in the gums forming gingivitis by checking in with your dentist.

These swellings around the neck of the tooth lose the periodontal ligament making the tooth mobile and loose. The swelling also stores food in the areas and tends to reach places where it gets difficult to clean on your own. So, it is necessary to floss every day after proper brushing.

All these causes further lead to deterioration of the normal structure of the tooth and surrounding structure with the following periodontitis; which seems very common.

• Dental caries

The following periodontitis associated with pregnancy poses high levels of cariogenic bacteria in the mother and also leads to dental caries in the infant. To control those circumstances, prevention is to be taken into consideration before actually causing severe dental caries. Appropriate dental care is necessary to reduce poor prenatal dental caries or any future anomaly of the calcification.

• Pregnancy Tumors

Due to the earlier discussed hormones, pregnant women tend to develop pregnancy tumours. The sound might frighten you but don’t be. These tumours are rather benign and not malignant. These growths appear during the second trimester which more look like small blisters of the size of 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm between the affected teeth. In case of discomfort, your dentist can easily remove them, but, the tumours often vanish after your baby is born.

The best Dental care tip is to visit your dentist when necessary. The person responsible for such an occurrence may try their best to keep it clean but within the 9 following months, it is necessary to inform the doctor every time you face any difficulty.

During the visit to a dentist, a new conceived mother must always inform about the pregnancy and the month of it. According to many studies, the 2nd trimester which is after 3 months of being pregnant is the ideal time for minor treatments such as cavity filling or professional teeth cleaning following medications.

Also, for many who believe X-ray isn’t safe for the baby, then it might a wrong conception. Dental x-rays are to be carried out with mandatory protection like a lead collar, and jacket and have a mentioned less radiation than recommended.

Make sure the duration of the pregnancy goes safe with the big changes in body and lifestyle by taking important notices off your teeth and gums as it is one of the most important parts of you and also for your baby.