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4 Ways Pregnancy Affects Oral Health

4 Ways Pregnancy Affects Oral Health
by Spring Hatfield, RDH

A woman goes through many changes during the nine months of pregnancy. It is always exciting to see the first signs of a baby bump, and most moms-to-be are concerned about the health of their growing baby. Unfortunately, these women can be misinformed or not informed at all about how pregnancy can affect oral health and how their oral health can affect their baby.

A study conducted in 2014 found that, although obstetricians generally were knowledgeable about appropriate dental care practices during pregnancy, as well as the relationship between oral health and pregnancy outcomes, this knowledge often did not translate into appropriate practice behavior.1 The following list covers many of the changes in oral health of pregnant patients and will hopefully help in educating these patients for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

1) Pregnancy Gingivitis

Pregnancy gingivitis may result from hormonal changes that exaggerate the response to bacteria in the periodontal tissue.2 The inflammation of the periodontal tissues due to the formation of biofilm increases dramatically in severity during a normal pregnancy, even without changes in the amount of biofilm present.3 Some studies indicate the reason for the increased inflammation during pregnancy is possibly directly related to the levels of estrogen in the saliva. Estrogen regulates the cellular functions of several tissues which may disturb the host response against bacteria. A study was conducted to evaluate the contribution of estrogen levels in saliva to the severity of gingival inflammation during pregnancy. Salivary estrogen levels increased significantly during the second and third trimesters. In all trimesters and postpartum, the individuals with both high estrogen and high visible plaque index levels had the highest frequency of pregnancygingivitis. During the second and third trimesters, simultaneously enhanced estrogen levels and visible plaque index scores brought an additional risk of developing gingivitis compared with a high visible plaque index score alone.

These findings suggest that, during pregnancy, the estrogen level determines the magnitude of gingival inflammation developed against microbial plaque at the gingival margin.4 Considering the increased risk of pregnancy gingivitis in some pregnant patients, in addition to a thorough review of oral hygiene instructions, more frequent recare appointments may be necessary.

Read full article on Today RDH.