New and expecting mothers should take extra care of their dental health because the consequences can be painful. During and after pregnancy, a woman’s estrogen and progesterone hormones surge, affecting how her mouth reacts to plaque and oral bacteria. While brushing, flossing, and attending more frequent dental cleanings can help prevent problems like gum disease and tooth decay, other issues are less avoidable. Here’s what to look out for while pregnant or breastfeeding: Gingivitis Pregnancy gingivitis is extremely common, with an estimated 60 to 75% of expectant mothers developing it between months two and eight. The gums become red and inflamed as they find it harder to fight plaque and bacteria. In most cases, this gingivitis clears up once the baby is born. However, you must keep a close eye on your gum health and visit your dentist in Long Beach at the first signs of gum disease developing. Gingivitis symptoms include: Red or purple gums Gum tenderness or pain Swelling or bleeding gums Bad breath Without attentive dental care, your gum disease may worsen into periodontitis. If it does, as often happens with women who already had gum disease before pregnancy, it can become a massive problem. Plaque and bacteria start permanently damaging gum tissue, causing the gums to separate from the teeth and form deepening pockets. These pockets quickly collect more plaque and bacteria, speeding up the gum disease process. Gum tissue and supporting bone are destroyed, causing the teeth to become loose and shift. Eventually, the teeth will need to be pulled—if they don’t fall out. Late-stage periodontitis often shows itself with these more severe gum disease symptoms: Receding gums Pain when chewing Sensitivity Loose teeth Change in bite and dentures no longer fitting

How Do You Fix Gingivitis? Gingivitis is very simple to treat. During this early gum disease stage, plaque and bacteria haven’t yet permanently damaged your gums or jawbone. The gums are only inflamed by toxins trapped on your teeth below the gum line. By removing that harmful buildup, your gums will return to their healthy, non-bleeding pink. This requires excellent dental hygiene—brushing your teeth twice each day and flossing daily—for at least two consecutive weeks. Since pregnancy gingivitis is so common and quick to form, we also recommend visiting your Long Beach hygienist more regularly for dental cleanings and exams. Once periodontitis develops, your smile will need more intensive treatment in the form of a deep cleaning, pocket reduction, or tissue graft: Deep Cleaning - when gum pockets form and trap food and bacteria, deep cleaning teeth allows us to reach where a routine cleaning can’t: below the gums. The teeth are scraped clean of plaque and tartar before the roots are smoothed down, letting your gums reattach to the enamel. Gum Flap Surgery - if the space between your teeth and gums frequently fills up, a gum flap surgery allows us to reduce the pocket’s size. A small flap of gum is pulled back to make it easy for us to clear all plaque and bacteria and repair any bone damage. This flap is then sewn in place, tighter than before, to make it difficult for food and bacteria to build up and fester under the gums. Tissue Graft Surgery - if enough bone, ligament, and gum are destroyed, they will need to be replaced with a tissue graft. This surgery turns back the clock on your loosening teeth and prevents them from falling out or being extracted. Tooth Decay and Cavities Morning sickness is never fun, and it can cause permanent damage to your teeth as the acids in bile and vomit wear away at the enamel. Enamel is a tooth’s hard protection against bacteria, plaque, and trauma. Along with the mouth’s exaggerated reaction to oral bacteria and plaque during pregnancy, it is much easier for pregnant women to develop tooth decay. Once the surface has been broken through, a cavity forms in your tooth. Without treatment, this pit will deepen as decay reaches into the tooth’s dentin and later the dental pulp layers. It is at this stage that most people feel a painful toothache, requiring immediate emergency treatment. Once the baby is born, it’s not uncommon for new mothers to let their oral hygiene routine fall to the wayside. Along with the potential for dehydration and dry mouth from breastfeeding, and it can be a recipe for disaster for their smiles. Dry mouth is especially insidious as most people don’t think much of their frequent thirstiness. However, without enough saliva, the mouth has a tough time breaking down foods and washing away plaque. This causes buildup to accumulate faster on the tooth, accelerating the rate of dental decay. Do All Cavities Need Fillings? Since a cavity is a permanent hole in your tooth, there is no way for the tooth to repair itself on its own. Professional treatment is needed to remove the decay and damaged sections. However, this doesn’t always mean a dental filling is necessary. Fillings are generally used for smaller cavities that don’t cover much of a tooth’s surface. For more extensive damage, inlays, onlays, and crowns may be needed to restore your tooth’s structure. If the decay reaches the dental pulp at the tooth’s center, an additional root canal procedure is required. Root canals can clear damaged pulp tissue down to the root. They can also help with draining any abscesses that form in the gums at the tooth’s base. Once the tooth has been filled with a rubbery material called gutta-percha, it will need to be reinforced with a filling or crown. In worst-case scenarios, the tooth may need to be removed to prevent your tooth infection from spreading to the rest of your smile.

Which Is Better: Root Canal Or Extraction? If a cavity becomes bad enough, your tooth may be standing on the edge between a root canal or an extraction. “But which one should I choose?” many of our patients ask us. When possible, we always say to choose a root canal. Natural teeth are healthier and stronger than even the best replacement teeth. With root canals as our last defense keeping your tooth alive, our Long Beach dentists can maintain your smile as it is, which isn’t possible with extraction. Some patients think that extraction is worth the missing tooth gap because of its lower price than a root canal. However, they don't account for the long-term costs of tooth removal. While the extraction itself may be less expensive, you will need a replacement tooth like a bridge or dental implant. Leaving a tooth gap unfilled can cause its own damage, from bone loss and shifting teeth to facial sagging and further decay and tooth loss. Bruxism As incredible as motherhood can be, it comes with its stresses—mental, emotional, and physical. The strain on a woman's body from a growing baby bump can cause tension in her neck and jaw, which stays even while asleep. Grinding and clenching teeth at night, or bruxism, is common for pregnant women, but it can extend into early motherhood. The posture nursing mother's take and the stress they face while adapting to motherhood can also lead to bruxism. Can you crack a tooth from grinding? Unfortunately, this is very common. While nighttime tooth grinding may seem harmless, it can do more than cause a sore jaw in the morning. These are just a few of the painful problems that can come with bruxism: Chipped and cracked teeth Damaged fillings and crowns Unusual wear and tear Increased tooth sensitivity Tooth, jaw, and neck pain Chronic headaches and earaches TMJ disorder Lockjaw Loose Teeth Bruxism and gum disease can cause teeth to loosen, but they aren't the only reasons why a woman's teeth may start wiggling during pregnancy. Even if her smile is healthy, spiking progesterone and estrogen in the body can briefly loosen the ligaments and bone supporting the teeth. This may seem scary, but it is generally harmless. Without any underlying problems like dental trauma or periodontitis, you don't have to worry about tooth loss. For most women, this tooth mobility is only temporary. Once your hormone levels return to normal, the connective tissues and bones will tighten up, and your smile will be just as firm and healthy as before. Keeping Your Mouth Healthy During Pregnancy And Beyond To ensure your smile stays as healthy as possible, we highly recommend that you follow these tips: Tell your dentist that you are pregnant. They may ask you to come in more frequently to ensure your smile stays healthy. Use fluoride toothpastes and mouth rinses to keep enamel strong. Maintain an excellent and consistent dental hygiene routine, making sure to floss daily and brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated and prevent dry mouth. Ask your dentist for a bruxism mouthguard if you notice you are clenching and grinding your teeth in your sleep.