Pregnancy and Oral care! 🤰

        Dental Precautions for Pregnant women

Patient Education Post - 3

Hello everyone! 🤗  I am here again with the all new topic regarding the things about oral health and pregnancy.

• Most of the people are unaware about the changes happening in their mouth before, during and after pregnancy. I think it is an absolute need to know about all the concepts regarding oral hygiene of a pregnant woman.

• While practicing, I had observed so many pregnant woman  with many dental problems, some were minor and some major too. How to tackle such conditions?

Don’t worry ladies. This blog is for you.

• The hormonal variations during pregnancy put pregnant females at a higher risk for developing various dental problems.

• Some studies show that the bacteria from gum diseases can actually get into the bloodstream and target the foetus potentially leading to ‘premature labour’ and ‘low birth weight’ babies.

• We need to understand, if oral hygiene is maintained well, pregnancy by itself does not cause periodontal disease.

• It is because of already existing local factors which lead to exaggerated periodontal disease progression under the influence of increased circulating hormones.

 Now, what are we supposed to do in every trimester of pregnancy? 

• 1st TRIMESTER (1-3 months) : 

1. First of all inform your dentist about pregnancy.

2. It’s  better to avoid dental treatment in 1st trimester.

3. Hormonal changes may cause inflammation (swelling) of gums. Use soft bristle brush and a bland (non aggressive) toothpaste to avoid vomiting. floss regularly to maintain your gums clean.

4. Do not brush your teeth immediately after vomiting or morning sickness. Instead rinse your mouth with water and use flouridated mouthwash.

5. Baby’s teeth begin to form 3 months into pregnancy. So your food will affect the development of teeth so have a  healthy diet.

6. Don't take over the counter medicine especially tetracyclines as it causes discoloration of your baby's teeth.

•  2nd TRIMESTER ( 4-6 months) :

1. The safest period for dental treatment remains the second trimester where complex procedures such as minor surgeries can also be carried out.

2. Take a diet which is more in calcium, vitamin C , vitamin B12 for healthy teeth.

3. Avoid intake of sugary food even though you are craving for them.

•  3rd TRIMESTER ( 7-9  months) : 

1.  Avoid any dental treatment.

2.  Be regular in maintenance of oral hygiene, brush your teeth twice a day and floss daily.

• Nursing : 

1. X-ray, local anaesthetics are safe during breast feeding.

2. If you have tooth ache, don’t take any over the counter medicine as it may affect baby’s health.

3. Consult your dentist to get your dental treatment done.

4. Wipe your baby’s gum with clean cotton cloth or cotton after every breast feeding or bottle feeding.

5. Never put your baby to sleep with milk.


      #myadvice

We often don’t realize that the oral health starts from the mother’s womb. Before you get pregnant, meet your dentist and make sure that your teeth and gums are in good condition. If not, get it treated as soon as possible.

• Conclusion :

       Maintenance of your oral health and maintenance of new born baby’s health is important. As your kids has to suffer consequences if you abuse yourself while pregnant. Keep your oral hygiene clean and stay healthy.
So spread this information to everyone around you. And make sure your teeth are healthy before pregnancy.

• References :

1. Oral health awareness and practices in pregnant females : A hospital-based observational study. Mayank Hans, Veenu Madan Hans, Namrata Kahlon, Piyush Kumar Rameshchandra Ramavat, Usha Gupta, Asim Das.
'Journal Of Indian Society Of Periodontology'

2. Oral health of pregnant females in central India: Knowledge, awareness and present status. Saxena Payal, Gupta Saurabh Kumar, Yadav Sumitra, Jain Sandhya, Jain Deshraj, Kamthan Shivam, Saxena Parul
‘Journal Of Education And Health Promotion'

3. Periodontology : A risk for delivery of premature labour and low-birth-weight infants. Rajiv Saini, Santosh Saini and Sugandha R. Saini.
‘Journal Of Natural Science, Biology and Medicine'