Pregnancy and Your Oral Health: Top Tips

Bringing a new life to your family is a major event in your life and needless to say, you want to make sure everything goes right. Pregnancy is a complicated process, with so much going on in your body. There are hormonal changes, gain in weight, behavioral changes and so on. And these changes make your body susceptible to some other changes, which are not desirable. Thus, pregnancy is a lot about precautions.

Oral health is one such thing you need to take care of. There may be a change in your diet, & there definitely are hormonal changes happening in your body. These changes can have an impact on oral health. Some of the common conditions that you can develop during pregnancy are:

• Pregnancy Tumors – They are small growths on the gums. Though harmless, you must get them checked. They could bleed while chewing food. Maintaining healthy oral habits right from the start can help to avoid this.
• Pregnancy Gingivitis- The gums may swell and look inflamed, and there could be bleeding while brushing.
• Tooth Sensitivity – Women experience craving for foods during pregnancy. If she does not clean her teeth properly, she could experience tooth sensitivity.
• Caries – Not maintaining healthy oral habits, teamed with the hormonal changes could cause caries.

Morning sickness and acid reflux is also a common thing. The acid from the reflux can damage the enamel if it’s a recurring event.

It is great if you are pregnant and not facing any of these problems. However, the best approach is that of being proactive.

• Get a dental checkup before pregnancy and during pregnancy. Don’t avoid basic dental procedures such as dental cleaning during this time.
• Follow good oral habits such as regular brushing, flossing, using sealant, and so on. You may experience food cravings, wherein you end up eating all sorts of food. While no one is stopping you from that, you must ensure that you take good care of your teeth during this period.
• Every time you experience morning sickness or acid reflux, make sure you rinse your mouth. This will ensure that there is no acid lurking the in the corners and grooves of the teeth. Acid can erode the protective enamel layer of the teeth.
• Get the required dental treatments before pregnancy, such as getting sealant on the teeth. Do this so that you don’t have to get it done during the pregnancy. Such procedures can only be done during particular semesters.

How oral health affects the baby

There are several undergoing studies trying to find out exactly how poor oral health affects the baby. Some of the studies show that gum diseases can lead to premature deliveries. It can also have an impact on the health and weight of the new-born baby.

Pregnancy is the time when you need to go all-out in taking care of each and every part of your body, and its starts from your mouth. Good oral health means a healthy you and a healthy baby.