Can i go to the dentist?!

[Santosha]

Apologies if this question is answered elsewhere or has already been asked 10000 times.
It's my first pregnancy and I'm only 5 weeks so learning as I go at the moment.

My question... is it safe to have dental work (ie. fillings) when pregnant? I remember last time I went to the dentist he asked me if I was pregnant before he gave me the anesthetic. I figure that means he would have done something different had i said yes?!

Thanks for your advice

[Laranna]

I went to the dentist twice when I was pregnant. First at around 8 weeks for a check up and clean and I told him I was pregnant and that was fine. He lightly filled one of my teeth but I didn't need any anaesthetic for that.

Second time around I was around 32 weeks and he just did the check up, no clean, he thought it was best to leave it until next time. He didn't want me lying on my back for too long was the main reason.

[AJC]

I've been to the dentist twice so far with this pregnancy. I told them straight away I'm pregnant and they were able to fix the problem..... temporarily. In my case I need root canal but I can't have that until after the birth. So she put in a temporary filling and seeing as the tooth is just about dead anyway she could drill without gas or needles and I didn't feel anything. I think dental work is ok in the first & second tri but not the third. So get it seen to sooner rather than later. Good luck.

[Alan]

Yes it is safe. In fact it is reccomended. Should your teeth or gums become infected it could harm your baby. The main reason they would want to know if you are pregnant is because of the X-Ray

[~Raven~]

I broke a tooth a couple of months ago now and you need to tell them if you are PG because besides not being able to be xrayed, there is a particular anesthetic they sometimes use which contains oxytocin which is the same drug used to induce labour.

The dentist told me all about it and then swore that wasn't the type she was about to inject into my gum

[2CheekyMonkeys]

i am going to the dentist tonight to get some adhesive restorations (they assure me its fine). actually i had a dental xray extremely early on in pregnancy with DD and coincidentally with this one. (before i knew i was pregnant). got a few filling while pregnant with DD#1 too. i guess if you just tell them you are pregnant they will know what they can and cant do.

[BellyBelly]

Seeing the Dentist in Pregnancy by Dr Axel Ecke

[ohmygodimamum]

I was curious about that too, before i became pregnant i had seen the dentist and am currently on a waiting list to have regular work done, and on another waiting list to have all of my wisdom teeth removed. Its been about 9mths ive been on the waiting list so now im hoping that they dont call til after january. I really dont want to miss it as its a long time to wait and the nearest place to have it it done is a 4hr drive!

[Santosha]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I will (reluctantly) make an appointment to see my dentist!

[tenar]

The dentist was the first person, other than my husband, who I told I was pregnant. How unromantic! It just happened that I had a checkup appointment on the day I got my BFP.

He told me that there are no problems with having dental work done during pregnancy, but that he prefers to leave things until the 2nd trimester. He said, and I think this is awful, that if you do dental work in the first trimester and then the woman has a miscarriage, you might get blamed and sued even though there is no connection other than timing. And the same in the 3rd trimester if the baby comes early.

Anyway, he told me to come back late in 2nd trimester for the one thing that needs a bit of fixing (filling chipped partly off), but he was definitely sure that if anything urgent came up I should get it fixed not wait (and imagine trying to have a long dentist appointment with a baby in tow, too - that would be hard!).

I was also interested to see that my OB asked me about my teeth on my first visit to her, and she gave me a leaflet about the importance of good dental care in pregnancy. So I'm trying to be extra good with my brushing and so on, as it's evidently something that can impact on me and the baby if I don't take care.