Pregnancy and oral health

Pregnancy is a natural process in the life of women, which is accompanied by changes in the body, including mouth and teeth.

Oral and dental hygiene during pregnancy and its effect on the health of the mother and fetus are very important. Pregnant mothers are more at risk of tooth decay and periodontal diseases than other members of the society.

Hormonal and nutritional changes during pregnancy, such as increased mouth acidity, morning nausea and vomiting, and gingivitis during pregnancy, are such that the pregnant mother is more susceptible to tooth decay.

He listed the great interest of pregnant mothers in consuming sweets or pickles as one of the factors of tooth decay and noted: the desire to consume these substances frequently puts the teeth at risk of tooth decay.

Pregnant mothers pay less attention to oral and dental hygiene due to lack of patience and frequent consumption of food. During pregnancy, especially in the last months, due to reduced stomach capacity, they eat smaller amounts but more often and may brush their teeth less. Therefore, the possibility of microbial plaque formation, which is the cause of tooth decay, increases in them.

The results of studies have shown that gingivitis during pregnancy can be a risk factor for premature birth and low birth weight babies.

During this period, due to changes in the sense of taste and increase in gastric reflex, morning nausea and vomiting and repeated vomiting, tooth surfaces are exposed to acid. This acid can dissolve the hard tissue of the tooth and cause its decay.

After vomiting, rinse the mouth with water because this helps to wash the stomach acid from the mouth.

It is better not to carry out long-term dental treatments during this period.

Pregnant mothers can more easily sit on the dental chair in the second trimester of pregnancy, so this period is considered the best time to perform dental treatments during pregnancy.

Sometimes during pregnancy, we see a local increase in gum tissue, which is called pregnancy tumor, any change in oral tissue must be visited by a dentist.

A pregnancy tumor is not cancerous and is generally painless and usually resolves after pregnancy.

Due to the weight gain of the mother in the last trimester of pregnancy, pregnant mothers cannot lie down on the chair for a long time, so it is better to have only short-term and emergency dental treatments for her during this period.