TOOTHACHE DURING PREGNANCY - Dr. Samuel

Pregnancy is a life experience that comes with new challenges, emotions, and sometimes complications. Although there are many things to think about during this beautiful stage, your oral health must be among your priorities. 

What Are The Causes of Toothache During Pregnancy?

Pregnancy comes with multiple ups and downs. Moreover, the constant hormonal changes that occur in your body alters your general and oral health, making you susceptible to various symptoms and conditions.  

Among these problems, we can find multiple oral manifestations and diseases such as toothaches, teeth sensibility, gum diseases, decay, dental erosions, and more. 

- Gum disease

Your hormones control almost everything that happens in your body. From feeling hungry to be excited and sad, hormones are crucial for even our most basic task. Therefore, it's expectable that your body overreacts under some incentives, causing damage without wanting to. This is what happens with your gums during pregnancy. Your body tries to attack the bacteria in your teeth and gums, affecting the soft tissues and causing sensitivity, bleeding, and tender gums. 

As a result, pregnancy gingivitis is one of the most frequent buccal conditions during the gestation process and something you need to be aware of throughout the process. 

- Tooth decay

Besides hormone changes, pregnancy can also affect your diet and nutrition. Thereby, some tendencies like the increasing need for snacks and the constant cravings can lead to a higher sugar fermentation, inducing dental caries. 

By increasing your sugar intake and meals, the bacteria in your mouth raise acid production, weakening your teeth. Furthermore, other frequent difficulties like hormonal changes and acidosis can add to this process. 

Yet, dental caries is a chronic and slow process, and, therefore, its preventable with proper hygienic measures. 

- Dental erosions

Other common difficulties for dentists during pregnancy are the erosive lesions that appear because of vomiting and waves of nausea. Usually, the baby pushes back the stomach, reducing its capacity and inducing acidosis and other gastric symptoms. 

The acid contained in the bile produces a chemical reaction that damages the teeth surfaces and creates wear lesions. Clearly, when these lesions advance can cause sensibility, dental pain and even generate dental fractures. 

Is It Safe to Receive Dental Treatment During Pregnancy?

Just like you get prenatal and constant care from your physician through all the process, you must see your dentist and receive professional treatment and assessment.

Moreover, even though there are many misconceptions about dental treatment during pregnancy, receiving dental is perfectly safe and necessary throughout the process. 

What Can I Do to Improve My Symptoms And Toothache?

Here are some measures you can take to relieve the pain and discomfort that comes from dental pregnancy problems:

• Maintain your oral hygienic habits with constancy, consulting your dentist about the toothpaste and toothbrush you should use.
• Avoid toothbrushing or using sports drinks after vomiting because it can increase the acids. Instead, try rinsing with 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. 
• Some fluoride treatments like varnish reduce the risk of caries.
• Avoid auto medication. 

Finally, remember that each case is different and might require various measures. Therefore, go visit your dentist, as dental treatment can be the only solution to some problems.

--- By Dr. Samuel I A Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S) from Central University of Venezuela. He is also the Member of the National College of Dental Surgeon of Venezuela. Boasts almost 10 years experience in general dentistry.

References:

- Giglio, J. A., Lanni, S. M., Laskin, D. M., & Giglio, N. W. (2009). Oral health care for the pregnant patient. In Journal of the Canadian Dental Association.

- Kurien, S., Kattimani, V. S., Sriram, R. R., Sriram, S. K., Rao V K, P., Bhupathi, A., Bodduru, R. R., & N Patil, N. (2013). Management of pregnant patient in dentistry. Journal of International Oral Health : JIOH.

- Silva de Araujo Figueiredo, C., Gonçalves Carvalho Rosalem, C., Costa Cantanhede, A. L., Abreu Fonseca Thomaz, É. B., & Fontoura Nogueira da Cruz, M. C. (2017). Systemic alterations and their oral manifestations in pregnant women. In Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/jog.13150

- Steinberg, B. J., Hilton, I. V., Iada, H., & Samelson, R. (2013). Oral health and dental care during pregnancy. In Dental Clinics of North America. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cden.2013.01.002

- The ADA Practical Guide to Patients with Medical Conditions. (2015). In The ADA Practical Guide to Patients with Medical Conditions. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119121039