Pregnancy is a special period for your mouth too: hormones, nausea and dietary changes test gums and enamel. The good news: with a few targeted habits you get through serenely — and give your baby a head start as well.
What happens to the mouth
- Pregnancy gingivitis: puffier, bleeding-prone gums reacting to plaque.
- Nausea erosion: vomiting episodes expose enamel to gastric acids.
- Sweet cravings: more snacking, more opportunities for plaque.
The right habits
- Careful, gentle hygiene twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, plus floss or interdental brushes.
- After vomiting: rinse with water (a pinch of bicarbonate helps) and wait at least half an hour before brushing softened enamel.
- One professional hygiene session during pregnancy: safe and recommended.
- Necessary care without delay: a neglected infection is riskier than treatment.
Thinking of the baby too
Perinatal recommendations remind us that a mother's oral health concerns the baby as well: cariogenic bacteria are transmissible (no tasting with the baby's spoon, no "cleaning" the dummy in a parent's mouth). And the little one's first visit is planned in the very first years of life.
Expecting? Tell us when you book: we adapt timing, chair position and care priorities to your trimester.
Sources
- Italian Ministry of Health, Recommendations for the promotion of oral health in the perinatal age — care during pregnancy and prevention of mother-child bacterial transmission.
- WHO, Oral health fact sheet — fluoride hygiene and sugar control.