I am in my first trimester of pregnancy. Can you tell me if being pregnant can lead to toothaches? I just had a checkup a couple of months ago and everything was great. This week I woke up with a horrible toothache. It felt the way it did the last time I needed a root canal treatment. A friend of mine, who has had three children, said that toothaches are common in pregnancy and don’t mean anything. I want to believe her, for my own convenience’s sake, but thought I should check first… just in case.

Ellie

Dear Ellie,

I’m glad you wrote. There are two major issues that affect your oral health during pregnancy.

Increased Gingivitis

Though we don’t know why, pregnant women tend to have higher incidents of inflamed gums than the general population. That being said, we do think it is related to hormones. They can impact you in two ways: first, they cause inflammation; second, they open up avenues for bacteria to thrive. You were not complaining about your gums so I don’t think this is involved in your situation.

Sinus Pain

Rhinitis impacts about 40% of women during pregnancy. Again, this is blamed on hormones. These women see an increase of mucus production, as well as swelling of the nasal passages. For many, this isn’t a big deal, but if you have low sinuses or long tooth roots, it can feel like a nasty toothache, even though it isn’t anything serious. You could try a pregnancy safe allergy medication or decongestant. Talk to your OB-GYN about what is safe to use.

Even so, it is important that you never ignore tooth pain. If it is an infected tooth it will not only impact you but your unborn child. My advice would be to see a dentist to get this checked out if the above mentioned medication doesn’t work.

This blog is brought to you by Decatur, AL Dentist Drs. Drake and Wallace.