Most women are told to avoid the dentist entirely while pregnant. That advice causes more harm than the treatment it avoids.
From the moment I walked into the office, I was met with a calm and reassuring atmosphere. The procedure itself was smooth and virtually painless.Niti Mehta — Google review
Most dental treatment is safe during pregnancy, and the second trimester is usually the most comfortable time. Cleanings, fillings, extractions and root canals can all be done. Local anaesthetic is safe, X-rays are safe with shielding and are only taken when needed, and bleeding gums are common and treatable. Elective cosmetic work is better left until after delivery.
Necessary dental treatment is safe during pregnancy and should not be postponed. An untreated infection is a far bigger risk to a pregnancy than a filling, an extraction or a root canal.
What is worth postponing is anything elective: whitening, veneers, cosmetic work, and X-rays taken out of routine rather than need.
Something painful or infected is treated whenever it happens. Waiting is the risk, not the treatment.
Gums that bleed, swell and feel tender in pregnancy are so common they have their own name, pregnancy gingivitis. Hormonal changes make the gums react far more strongly to the same amount of plaque that was there before.
It is not caused by the baby taking anything from you. It is an exaggerated reaction to plaque, which means it responds to having the plaque removed. A professional cleaning, plus careful brushing with a soft brush and cleaning between the teeth, usually settles it. Left alone it can progress to the kind of gum disease that does not go away after delivery, see pyorrhea treatment.
Some women develop a soft red lump on the gum, usually between two teeth, that bleeds easily when brushing. It is called a pregnancy tumour, which is an alarming name for something that is not cancer and not dangerous.
It is an overgrowth of inflamed tissue. Most shrink on their own after delivery. It is removed during pregnancy only if it bleeds constantly, interferes with eating, or is getting in the way, and it can come back if the gum inflammation underneath is not treated.
Dental X-rays are considered safe in pregnancy. The dose is extremely low, digital sensors use less than old film, the beam is aimed at the jaw rather than the abdomen, and a lead apron with a thyroid collar is used.
That said, routine screening X-rays are usually deferred. If there is pain, infection or a tooth that needs a decision made about it, the X-ray is taken, because treating blind is the greater risk. Tell the clinic you are pregnant and how many weeks.
Safe, and worth insisting on. The amount used in dentistry is small and does not reach the baby in any meaningful quantity.
Refusing anaesthetic to protect the baby is a common instinct and the wrong one. Pain and the stress that goes with it are worse for both of you than the injection.
This is the part where it genuinely matters that the clinic knows you are pregnant.
Always confirm anything you take with your obstetrician as well.
Repeated vomiting washes the teeth in stomach acid, which softens enamel. The instinct is to brush immediately, and that is exactly when brushing does the most damage, because you scrub softened enamel away.
Rinse with plain water, or a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water to neutralise the acid, and wait about thirty minutes before brushing. If toothpaste triggers nausea, use a bland one and a smaller brush.
Studies have linked severe gum disease in pregnancy with premature birth and low birth weight. The evidence that treating gum disease during pregnancy changes those outcomes is mixed, and it would be overselling it to say a cleaning protects your baby.
What is not in doubt: treating it is safe, it relieves symptoms, and it stops a problem that otherwise continues long after delivery, when you will have considerably less time to deal with it.
Calcium is not drawn out of your teeth for the baby. Teeth are not a living reservoir like bone. The reason dental problems cluster around pregnancy is more ordinary: vomiting, snacking more often, sore gums making brushing uncomfortable, and appointments being postponed for a year.
See directions and hours, and tell us you are pregnant when you book so the appointment is planned around it.
Yes. Cleanings, fillings, extractions and root canals are all safe, and the second trimester is usually the most comfortable time. Postponing an infection is riskier than treating it. Elective cosmetic work is better left until after delivery.
Yes, when it is needed. The dose is very low, the beam is directed at the jaw, and a lead apron and thyroid collar are used. Routine screening X-rays are usually deferred, but one taken to diagnose pain or infection should not be.
Hormonal changes make gums react much more strongly to the same plaque, which is called pregnancy gingivitis. A professional cleaning plus gentle brushing and cleaning between the teeth usually settles it. It is not caused by the baby taking calcium.
Yes. The quantity used in dentistry is small and does not reach the baby meaningfully. Declining anaesthetic means pain and stress, which are worse for both of you.
Paracetamol is the painkiller of choice, and penicillin-type antibiotics, cephalosporins and erythromycin are generally safe. Tetracycline and doxycycline are avoided because they stain the baby’s developing teeth, and ibuprofen is avoided especially in the third trimester.
Most likely a pregnancy tumour, an overgrowth of inflamed gum tissue that bleeds easily. It is not cancer and usually shrinks after delivery. It is removed during pregnancy only if it bleeds constantly or interferes with eating.
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