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    Treating Periodontal Disease for Pregnant Women


    2011 - 06.21

    Because over two-thirds of adults are suffering from periodontal disease in the U.S. alone, there is always a chance that even pregnant women can be diagnosed with this disease as well, which makes it harder to treat it and find gum disease cures that suit their condition.

    Gum disease is caused by bacterial infection that eats away the tissues of the gums. This happens to be one of the top reasons of tooth loss, and a sign of a serious health problem that may have long been previouslyundetected. In the case for pregnant women, this is especially problematic because of their delicate condition that may affect the growth of the fetus that they are carrying. The health of the baby depends on the health of the mother, and that’s the reason a woman doesn’t resort to any ordinary ways about treating gum disease. Pregnancy also brings about addition issue of tooth loss as  aggravated by hormonal changes and the difficulty that the mother already has lowered calcium distribution in the body, because most of it gets re-routed to the growing infant inside her; couple that with the occurrence of gum disease, tooth loss looks like it is almost inevitable.

    The treatment for periodontal disease is something that pregnant women are scared or apprehensive of. It is always a consideration for all pregnant women about the safety of the treatment and how it could mean for the baby, as has long been thought of that treating the disease could cause the bacteria to flow into the pregnant woman’s bloodstream, and may find its way to the baby and impede his or her natural development.

    But for dentists and oral specialist, they have long avoided using aggressive systems of treatment for gum disease if the patient is pregnant. Even anti-biotic kind of therapy is avoided because it may affect and stain the teeth of the baby. But a recent publication on the Journal of Pediatricshas shown that it’s fine for them to undergo scaling and planning even during at the time of pregnancy. A research by the University of Minnesota has revealed that there is very little to no correlation between a gum disease remedy by means of aggressive dental treatment and the children born from mothers suffering from gum disease during pregnancy.

    Pregnancy doesn’t have to be a huge roadblock when it comes to thinking about trying dental treatments for gum disease. Because oral health of the mother also reflects a sound body, it is crucial to preserve the tooth and gums even during pregnancy.