Pregnancy: What To Expect From Your Teeth And Gums When You're Expecting
It's quite common to feel vulnerable while pregnant. This might manifest itself as a sense of stress or anxiety, but there's a physical vulnerability you need to know about, and that's your oral health. Pregnancy affects the body in a multitude of ways, and it can in fact make your teeth and gums more vulnerable to decay and periodontal disease. Since this is such a common aspect of pregnancy, should it be cause for concern?
Dental Checkups
Short of an immediate dental emergency, you're unlikely to be actively concerned about your dental health. Provided you're sufficiently diligent with your oral hygiene while recognizing the impact that diet can have on your teeth and gums, and attend your regular dental checkups, there's little cause for any ongoing concern. However, those dental checkups become even more important during pregnancy.
Saliva and Dental Enamel
Your saliva has a pH (potential hydrogen) level of 6.2 to 7.6. Pregnancy causes salivary pH levels to drop, making your saliva more acidic. Saliva helps to protect your teeth from cariogenic bacteria (oral bacteria which can erode dental enamel and cause cavities). This protection is reduced during pregnancy due to the changes in your saliva's pH levels, so your teeth can be more vulnerable to decay. Your regular dental checkups allow cavities to be caught in their infancy, meaning the necessary corrective action is far less invasive. The potential risk to your teeth underlines the importance of your regular dental appointments.
Periodontal Concerns
It's not only your teeth that can be affected. Your gums will feel the effects of pregnancy too. Gum disease is so common during pregnancy that it has its own name (pregnancy gingivitis). This inflammation of your periodontal tissues is due to your body's elevated estrogen and progesterone levels. Gums can become sore, and may bleed easily. As the condition progresses, your periodontal disease can even begin to affect the ligaments anchoring your teeth, causing teeth to feel loose. Symptoms of pregnancy gingivitis should be reported to your dentist.
Periodontal Disease Treatment
Your dentist will opt to perform periodontal disease treatment. This is non-invasive, and generally involves dental scaling, when your dentist removes the bacteria-rich calcified plaque from your teeth, which normalizes the number of oral bacteria your gums are exposed to. Your inflammation will then subside. Any instances of periodontal disease are particularly serious during pregnancy. Untreated periodontal disease introduces excess bacteria into your bloodstream, and this may affect a developing fetus. Complications such as preterm labor and low birth weight can be possible as a result of untreated periodontal disease. The risk is low, but it can be mitigated with prompt treatment of any periodontal disease.
Pregnancy means that certain activities must be curtailed, but going to the dentist isn't one of them. As an extra precaution, you may even want to see your dentist more regularly while you're expecting. To learn more about what else may affect your teeth and gums in the future visit a site such as Comprehensive Dental Care.
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