Dental care during and post pregnancy
During pregnancy and post pregnancy, especially if you are breastfeeding for a longer period of time, and you have your children quite close together it is even more important to continue to look after your teeth and gums. The hormones at this time of life can alter your body’s responses to the bacteria in plaque making them bleed more easily and they can tend to swell. Therefore we need to invest extra time in cleaning our teeth by brushing twice a day, flossing daily, eating a healthy nutritious diet and continuing our regular dental visits. There is really no reason to avoid the dentist while you are pregnant, and although we usually defer checkup x-rays until after the baby is born for peace of mind, there really is no scientific reason. If you need to have an x-ray during pregnancy to help diagnose an issue this is completely safe. We recommend that it is better to work towards getting any dental issues fixed while you are pregnant as it can be so much harder after the baby arrives to arrange time out of your day away from your new bundle of joy to have dental work done, potentially as an emergency. One exception is that we usually defer whitening due to manufacturer instructions whilst you are breastfeeding.
Even as your family grows, we often hear that mothers tend to put off their treatment and get their children’s issues fixed as a higher priority. But we have to remember the importance of prevention and self care. A scheduled check up and clean every 6 months can be way more convenient than a severe toothache on the weekend while you have a tribe to look after! And this could lead to tooth loss, where with regular dentistry the tooth may have been salvageable.
Myth #1 Have you ever heard of the old saying that you lose a tooth for every child? This is not accurate and not normal. However lifestyle changes during pregnancy can put us at more risk of decay. This may be due to the acidity of morning sickness or reflux or due to increased snacking and grazing as the cravings take hold.
Myth #2 Has anyone ever said to you that the developing baby needs to take calcium from your teeth as it develops? Once again this is completely false and the problems that some women experience in terms of dental decay is likely due to the lifestyle changes mentioned above.
So don’t fear and continue your good hygiene and regular checkups during pregnancy and beyond and remember that your children look to you as a role model for how they feel about dental hygiene, a healthy diet and visits to the dentist. If you value these things, they will too!