Pregnancy is a period of major changes in the functioning of a woman's entire body, so it is very important to take proper care of your body before a planned pregnancy. In addition to a proper diet and a healthy lifestyle, every future mother should take care of proper oral hygiene and healthy teeth.
Before the planned pregnancy, comprehensive dental treatment should be carried out, consisting of dental hygiene procedures, treatment of caries and inflammation of the gums, because some dental procedures should not be performed during pregnancy.
In particular, in the first period of pregnancy (first trimester), when the greatest developmental changes in the fetus occur, all dental procedures should be limited to a minimum. You should then pay special attention to inflammation and prevent it in advance. Oral hygiene is very important during this period to prevent bacteria from entering the bloodstream.
If the future mother requires dental treatment, such treatment should be carried out in the second trimester of pregnancy. Due to hormonal changes in the body, 80 percent of pregnant women experience pregnancy gingivitis, which disappears after delivery. Poor hygiene and tartar may worsen symptoms such as swelling, hyperemia, pain and bleeding of the gums. Depending on the type of changes, we can distinguish several types of pregnancy gingivitis - papillary gingival hyperplasia, erythematous inflammation, marginal inflammation and papillary inflammation. The most dangerous diseases during pregnancy include periodontal diseases. They develop through untreated gingivitis or the presence of subgingival calculus that must be removed.
Many pregnant women have doubts whether removing tartar during this period is not harmful. If the pregnancy is progressing normally, there are no contraindications to this type of procedure. Ultrasound waves during scaling are at the same level as those used for ultrasound examination. It is better to remove tartar than to cause inflammation of the gums, which may cause bacteria to enter the bloodstream of the mother and child.
Sometimes tooth treatment is more complicated and requires root canal treatment. In the case of pregnant women, an X-ray cannot be taken to accurately determine the stage of the disease. You also cannot use preparations for tooth poisoning, which are toxic. Therefore, tooth pulp removal is performed under local anesthesia. If endodontic treatment is more complicated, the canals are temporarily filled with a dressing and the treatment is continued after delivery.
If the condition of the tooth requires surgical treatment, tooth extraction is definitely possible. You can also use an appropriate type of anesthesia that does not affect the course of pregnancy. If the future mother has planned surgical procedures, such as removal of an impacted wisdom tooth or implantation of an implant, which can be postponed, it is worth waiting with such procedures.
During pregnancy, dental treatment should always be consulted with the attending physician.
The author of the entry is: manager Marta Niemiec-Fiutowska