For women pregnancy is the most precious feeling which cannot be described in the words. It is the process during which girl is slowly puts hers baby steps into her own motherhood. During this period, they will be having very different experience for which every woman wants to go through it. Finally carrying own baby in the body makes them complete, which all men on the earth cannot understand or experience at all.

         During pregnancy there will be more acid and hormonal levels in body. Because of this increased levels of hormones there will be lot of changes in body. Pregnancy changes in your body will affect gums and teeth also. There are some changes that more likely to have dental health problems during pregnancy are:

Effect of Pregnancy gingivitis/ or periodontitis or pregnancy tumor: Pregnancy does not cause gingivitis. If pregnant woman do not clean their oral cavity properly, the hormonal changes during pregnancy may exaggerate the response of the gum tissues to plaque bacterial toxins, resulting in red, swollen and bleeding gums. Untreated gum infection may worsen chronic gum infection, which can lead to Periodontitis. Whereas pregnancy tumor is the name for localized long standing gum infection which leads to swelling of gums.

Tooth decay- Retching while brushing: Pregnant women often crave for variety of food like sweet and sour food. Along with that food intake is more frequent. Therefore, the chance of getting tooth decay increases. Some women find that brushing their teeth, particularly till last tooth, provokes retching. However the of risk tooth decay will be more if you don’t brush regularly.                                                             

Morning sickness and Teeth erosion: During pregnancy, morning sickness is the major concern. Along with nausea additional acids in the body are the main causes vomiting. Because of which more acid will be left in your mouth will affects the outer layer of teeth. There will loss of some part of outer layer of teeth which comes in contact with acids, this may cause ‘tooth sensitivity”.

 Calcium insufficiency:  During pregnancy, body need more amount of calcium. Sufficient amount will protect your bones and fulfill needs for developing baby. But, in case of insufficient amount of calcium, body uses calcium in your body for development of baby. This may lead to joint pain.

Best ways to avoid all above mentioned problems are:

  1. Increase intake of calcium rich diet like Milk, Cheese and Yogurt etc. 
  2. Try to avoid sticky, hard and sour food  stuff as much as possible.                              
  3. Brush twice in a day with fluoridated toothpaste.
  4. If the particular toothpaste seems to provoke your gag reflex, switch to another brand. Don’t skip brushing your teeth.
  5. Try other distractions such as, listening to music during brushing your teeth to avoid gagging.
  6. Avoid brushing your teeth immediately after vomiting. Brush your teeth at least after one hour of vomiting.
  7. Gargle with water immediately after vomiting. Followed by mouth rinses after some time.
  8. Preconception dental treatment is the best to avoid all the problems.
  9. Regular care and dental visit can be done during 4th to 6th months during pregnancy.
  10. Post delivery after few months again dental visit is required if any problems arises during pregnancy.