How Pregnancy May Affect Teeth and Gums

During pregnancy, a whole host of hormones is released into your body. These hormones can play havoc with all kind of things; even your teeth and gums. Your Mountain View, CA dentist is ready to help you with any concerns you may have about your oral health during pregnancy. Following are some of the ways that pregnancy might affect your teeth and gums.

Swollen and Sore Gums

During pregnancy, you are more likely to develop plaque, which is harmful to your teeth and gums. This build up typically causes irritation and inflammation of the gums, which in turn leads to swelling. In some cases, you might even experience bleeding gums while brushing or chewing. If this happens, try not to swallow the blood, as this will be irritating to your sensitive stomach and lead to vomiting. Instead, spit out any blood and contact your Mountain View dentist for help managing plaque build-up.

More Cavities

Those same pregnancy hormones mentioned above can change the pH balance in your mouth, causing your saliva to be more acidic. This higher level of acidity is harmful to teeth and can cause cavities. Even if you’ve never been prone to cavities before pregnancy, you are at an increased risk of developing when you’re expecting. This is a great time to bump up your frequency of dentist visits. Instead of every six months, consider going in for a cavity checkup every three months. This way, your Mountain View dentist can be proactive about finding and filling any cavities that your pregnancy has brought on.

Loose Teeth

Many women even experience loose teeth during pregnancy. This is because ligaments and bones can be affected which also impacts the jawbone. Don’t worry, though. If your loose teeth are related to pregnancy, they will tighten up again after you give birth. However, it’s still a good idea to get any loose teeth checked out by your Mountain View dentist just to make sure that there isn’t a different dental health issue going on.

In the vast majority of cases, changes to your teeth and gums during pregnancy are temporary. However, there’s good reason to visit your dentist often during pregnancy to make sure you have a beautiful smile to greet your new baby with!