Dental problems while pregnant, puts women in precarious conditions as anaesthesia and x-rays could lead to miscarriage or cause deformation or complication. Nowadays however, contemporary providers of oral care encourage pregnant women not to wait, especially if the oral health problem is periodontitis. Some others give advice to wait until after the first trimester in order to reduce the risks of compromising a pregnancy.
Bear in mind through that it’s important to tell the dentist about one’s pregnant condition since most dental procedures require local anaesthetics like lidocaine or mepivacaine, which are generally safe for pregnant women. However, a dentist may unknowingly use a faster-acting anaesthetic that has a stronger formulation not recommended for pregnant women.
Good Oral Health is Important During Pregnancy
Most pregnant women are not aware that poor dental health during pregnancy can affect their wellbeing and that of their baby. Medical researches in the US show that about 60 to 75% of women who became pregnant had gingivitis at the same time. Gingivitis is the early stage of periodontitis in which the gums are red and swollen as a result of inflammation triggered by hormonal changes during pregnancy.
Gingivitis that is not treated during pregnancy can lead to gum infection, a condition that affects a pregnant woman’s ability to take in proper nutrition for herself and the baby. In many cases, gingivitis and the more serious cases of periodontitis have been linked to low birth weight and premature birth.
Moreover, as pregnant women are inclined to experience changes in eating behavior, those with poor oral health are at risk of allowing the growth and propagation of cavity-causing bacteria in their mouth. Such an oral condition will carry on even after the delivery of the baby.
As a result, the mother can transmit some of the cavity-causing bacteria to her newborn, whose bottle-feeding habits will all the more allow the bacteria to thrive in the infant’s mouth. This is actually one of the reasons why some children have increased risks of developing cavities and of suffering from tooth decay in the early stages of childhood oral health,
Pregnancy and Major Dental Work
Ordinarily, if an orthodontist learns that a patient who is about to undergo a major dental work or corrective dental procedure, is pregnant, the patient will be advised to reschedule and wait until after delivery. As the emphasis is in having good oral health during pregnancy, major dental procedures might result to stressful outcomes that can affect the delicate condition of the expecting mother and her unborn.
It’s worth mentioning that this is also the general recommendation of aria dental, home to leading dental care and implant experts in Perth, Australia. After all, dental care and oral health improvement is quite important in the country, not only for pregnant women but to all Australian children and adults.
Decades ago, certain studies revealed poor oral health as one of the leading causes of deficiency in the overall health and physical and psychological wellbeing of many Australians, particularly in the underserved areas. So far, the country’s 10-year 2015-2024 National Oral Health Plan has been successful in making affordable dental health care available in all states and territories in Australia.
