With everything going on while you’re pregnant—especially if this is your first time, your oral health might not be the thing that is at the forefront of your concerns.
However, keeping in overall good health and practicing daily, healthy habits are important when your body is going through so many changes. Interestingly enough, although you may think that changes are happening more and more down below, there are also changes occurring in your mouth region, which need to be tended to!
During pregnancy, since there is such a surge of hormones, this can leave your mouth and oral health as vulnerable as ever, which can bring on issues with bacteria, plaque, and other foreign bodies that may cause future problems.
In this article, we’re going to go through a few things that you should care about—whether you’re getting specially treated at Great Hill Dental in Braintree or if you’re heading to another local office.
- Be aware of “Pregnancy Gingivitis”
During pregnancy, it’s especially important that you take care of your oral health. Certain issues like gum diseases and periodontitis can actually affect your fetus. It has been shown that there is a link to lower birth weight in the baby and premature birth when there is gum disease present in the mother.
Pregnancy Gingivitis occurs within the first trimester, which will bring on symptoms like bleeding, swollen, red, and tender gums.
The Gingivitis stems from plaque. Although pregnancy itself doesn’t lead to plaque, but with your entire body focusing on pregnancy, this might leave your mouth vulnerable or weakened in the fight against plaque. Making sure you keep an eye on your oral health is very important during pregnancy!
- Keep an eye on Erosion of your Enamel
With the joys of morning sickness, you may also experience other symptoms like the erosion of the enamel of your teeth.
Although you would give anything to stop the actual morning sickness itself, you can help neutralize the acid present in your mouth by rinsing it out with the home remedy of baking soda and water. This can help prevent erosion.
- What about X-Rays?
If you’ve ever had dental or oral x-rays, you’ve most likely have been asked to fill out a form or two saying if you were pregnant or if there were a chance that you would be pregnant.
Even though at a dentist visit you’re not thinking much about your pregnancy, it is important that you let your dentist and your dentist’s staff know if or when you are pregnant.
This can help them understand more fully your needs, adjustments in your treatment, and possibly a postponement of oral x-rays.
A Few Tips
Although you probably have heard your share of tips while pregnant, here are some new ones that have to do with oral care.
To help you maintain a healthy oral status while pregnant, here are some to-do tips:
- Although you have so many other doctor appointments to worry about, you should also make sure you pin in a dentist appointment for regular check-ups and cleanings. There are certain things to watch out for while you’re pregnant, so going regularly to your dentist can help you stay on top of that!
- Just as you were before (hopefully), you should continue to brush at least twice a day and floss daily.
- After brushing and flossing, you should invest in an antimicrobial mouth rinse.
- Brushing and scraping your tongue can also help remove any unwanted bacteria.
- Stay away from sugary sweets that are bad for your teeth (unless you are craving them, of course).