Expecting women have more to include in their to-do lists. Not only do they require a lot of rest, proper nutrition, and lots of medical attention, but they also need to drop by the dentist’s office more often than most of us normally are aware of. Because of the wave of hormone changes, pregnant women are more prone to gum and teeth problems compared to those who aren’t growing buns inside their ovens.

What happens during pregnancy?

Not only will pregnant women go through a few dress sizes up, but their gums and teeth will also go through some normal, albeit fragile, changes. For instance, the increase in hormone levels will lead to these women having increased blood flow to their gums. This leads to the appearance of swollen and tender gums, a condition which is classified as pregnancy gingivitis. The culprit? Skyrocketing levels of progesterone.

Another complication of pregnancy gingivitis is that an expectant woman has a higher chance of giving birth pre-term or giving birth to low birth weight babies compared to women who do not have gingivitis. So if you’re finding streaks of blood whenever you brush your teeth, you should consult your dentist about how you can best take care of your gum health while you are pregnant.

How can you protect yourself against pregnancy gingivitis and other gum diseases?

The best way to keep yourself from developing gingivitis and other gum diseases is through strict dental hygiene. Ensuring that plaque does not build up along your gumline will help you to stave off gum diseases. This can be done through brushing of teeth after each meal, rinsing with mouthwash and flossing. At the same time, going to the dentist for routing deep cleaning is also another efficient way to prevent if not treat early onset of gum disease. This procedure is called the scaling and root planing procedure.

What is scaling and root planing?

This treatment includes scaling off the mineralized plaque, or tartar, which has accumulated along the gumline and then smoothening the dental roots in order to prevent plaque from adhering to these dental roots and forming into more tartar. While plaque is a soft material, tartar is mineralized and cannot be removed other than through a scaling procedure. If you are suffering from severe gum disease, your dentist can assess the need for more radical treatments such as pulling down the gingival flaps in order to reverse the signs of gum recession.

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