Pregnancy and Oral Health

Our understanding of the effects of oral hygiene and dentistry on pregnancy has come a long way. Unfortunately though, this information has not been passed down to expecting mothers and often we talk to women that believe they should avoid dental treatment during pregnancy.

This is far from the truth - in fact, your oral health and oral hygiene become the most important when you are pregnant! Did you know that there is vertical transmission of decay from mother to baby? This is because babies are born as a blank slate with no bacteria in their mouth - they rely on their carers to give them bacteria that populate their skin, mouth and gut. If a healthy set of bacteria are given, the child is more disease resistant and these bacteria stop harmful ones establishing themselves. However if bad bacteria colonise first, then it is very hard to change this and the child has a much higher risk of struggling with decay and dental disease.

Poor gum health is associated with pregnancy complications, low birth weight and premature birth as the constant high levels of bacterial toxins entering the bloodstream from gum disease causes a lot of inflammation and stress. The bad bacteria that has been linked with gum disease has been found in the uterus.

We can assist you with the following questions and more.

• How and why does your oral health affect not only your child's risk of future decay but their overall wellbeing?
• Why do so many women say that “having a child destroyed my teeth”? The science behind this.
• Food, drinks and fluoride – during pregnancy. What's good, what's bad. 
• Morning sickness and what we can do to reduce tooth damage
• When is the best time to get dental treatment and what dental treatment can you receive? Can you have xrays and numbing?
• How to reduce your child's risk of decay and key dental appointment dates through their development. For example, we do not want high fluoride exposure during the childs first 6 years, we stock toothpaste that not only has fluoride but calcium and phosphate, which gives you the remineralisation and buffering effects but with low fluoride levels.
• Good teats for bottles and dummies that reduce negative impacts on jaw development. Whether or not your child’s thumb/digit sucking is a cause for concern.

Call us on 02 6766 1766 and book an appointment online today if you are family planning, pregnant or have children and would like to get the best, up-to-date information for you and your family.