Keeping Your Teeth While Pregnant
"An old wive’s tale is that you’re going to lose a tooth for every child that you have and that is a wive’s tale, taking care of yourself that is totally preventable," says Dr. Brian Waggle
Pregnant women need to step up their dental health.
"When you become pregnant there is a shift in your hormones and there is a lot more blood flow throughout your whole body especially in your mouth," says Waggle. You’ll soon see the effects of that increased blood flow.
"One of the things that we see a lot of is very sore, red gums. Pregnancy gingivitis almost happens probably a month after you find out that you’re pregnant and it’ll last the entire time," he says.
Dr. Waggle says the best thing you can to keep your gums healthy is brush your teeth twice a day and floss once a day. But that won’t prevent all issues.
"Some people have problems when they have morning sickness, we see some problems with that," says Dr. Waggle.
To reduce the amount of acid in your mouth after you get sick add a teaspoon of baking soda to a cup of water and rinse out your mouth.
"That helps neutralize the acids in your mouth another thing too is once you’ve eaten and you can’t get to a tooth brush chewing some sugarless gum makes a world of difference. It also help neutralize acids in your mouth," he says.
You also need to make sure to have a healthy diet to keep your teeth strong.
"Occasionally breaking of teeth is related to calcium deficiency. The pregnant patient needs 1200 milligrams of calcium a day," says Dr. Robert Aepli, OB/GYN.
Dr. Robert Aepli says he recommends a special "cocktail" for patients.
"Calcium fortified orange juice. It gives you calcium, potassium and sometimes that can be added to something like metamucil which gives you fiber in bulk during pregnancy," he says.
Both doctor’s say you shouldn’t ignore dental health just because you’re pregnant.
"If you have any kind of emergency problem it can be treated while you’re pregnant so don’t neglect a potential serious problem make sure you go have it checked," says Dr. Waggle.
And don’t worry there’s a light at the end of the tunnel…
"When the pregnancy is finished and you had your child usually all the symptoms go away and you go back to the way you used to be," he says.
