Hi Ladies, I always enjoy reading your helpful and supportive advice. Today, I am experiencing a small crisis. I am six months pregnant. I have a back tooth that has a very large filling in it. Today while eating, a piece of my tooth broke off. It left a very jagged piece of tooth sticking up and a fear that more will break off if I chew on that side. I have some sensitivity but I am not in constant pain. Mostly, I am bummed out that eating (which is very important to me right now :) has now turned into a stressful thing. I am having a scheduled c-section the last week in November and I just can't imagine going through the rest of this pregnancy and the c-section recovery without having something done about this tooth. I would love any advice, experience or referrals to dentists who work on pregnant women. What is your opinion on how safe it is to have dental work done at this stage in pregnancy? Any help will be greatly appreciated. I am trying not to freak out about this. Thanks!
Hi Ladies, Thanks so much for your responses. I was able to obtain a letter of consent from my OB/GYN and my dentist was able to file down the tooth and put some temporary filling over the hole. It should hold until after the baby is born and then I will prob need to get a crown. I am SO happy that I was able to find a solution to this crisis!!! Thank you all for your encouragement and support! Your experience really helps.
Bummer! I worry about this too and am so sorry you have another thing on your plate to make you uncomfortable. ugh. I am pretty sure that the ADA recommends that pregnant women avoid dental work in their 1st trimester. I believe the 2nd and 3rd are alright, but you can go on their site, or go to http://www.americanpregnancy.org/ and see what they say.
Good luck!
Hi T.,you don't need to wait and suffer,most ob/gyn have special dental referral letter which makes clear for dentist to use specific antibiotic,local anesthetic agent or treatment for pregnant moms.ask your md for this type of referral and don't worry.also your dentist would know how to help you.there is not any special dentist for pregnant women.in 25 years taking care of ob patients I have never seen any complications due to dental work.
I think it's quite common and I myself had dental work with both pregnancies. I also just recently had this conversation with my dentist while she was cleaning my teeth last month. You'll need to get permission from your OB for them to do the work. Your dentist will do what your OB wishes. The numbing agents that they use are quite safe, according to my dentist, whom I trust and have been seeing for over 10 years. You don't have to be in pain and you don't want to risk infection which is more dangerous than the dental work.
Hi T.,
My dentist, Dr. Ines, is great and I think he could help you figure out what's best. His # is ###-###-####, he's located right in Beverly Hills and their offices are really friendly. His staff is all very professional and thorough as well. Good luck!
J.
I'm in Burbank too and I love my dentist, Dr Miller on Palm at Glenoaks. I think you should have it examined just so that you can make a qualified decision as to how you want to handle the situation.
If it were me, I'd have the dentist check it and maybe double check any treatment suggestions that left me wondering with my OB/Gyn.
Good luck and take good care of yourself!
Hi T.,
I am a dental hygienist and my recommendation is to go to the dentist and at least have it looked at. If you are worried about x-rays, you have the right to refuse them if you choose. I have treated a number of pregnant patients. Your pregnancy hormones can reek havoc with your gums (I've had a few patients say their teeth were affected too). It is actually recommended that you see your dentist during your pregnancy. What you don't want is to find out months down the road that you need a root canal because you waited too long for treatment. Sometimes those big fillings break because of decay under the filling. If that's the case, you definately do not want to wait too long. The sooner the better. Any dentist will see pregnant patients. It doesn't require a specialist. It is safe to recieve dental treatment during pregnancy.
