Oral examination before pregnancy is important

With the implementation of the comprehensive two child policy, more and more expectant mothers are consulting dentists. Do they need to undergo an oral examination? Regarding this, Li Yuan, the attending physician of the Third Outpatient Department of Jiangsu Provincial Stomatological Hospital, reminds that oral examination before pregnancy is very important.
According to Li Yuan, after pregnancy, the levels of estrogen in women's bodies significantly increase, especially the high levels of progesterone, which can cause the proliferation of blood vessels in the gums, enhance the permeability of blood vessels, and easily induce gingivitis, which is called "gestational gingivitis". Women who suffer from gingivitis or periodontitis before pregnancy will experience more severe inflammation after pregnancy, with gingival hyperplasia, swelling, significant bleeding, and individual gingival hyperplasia reaching a tumor like state, known as "gestational gingival tumors". In addition, the bacterial toxicity in the patient's periodontal pocket increases, which also worsens the damage to periodontal bone tissue, often causing multiple teeth to loosen and fall off. If it is moderate to severe periodontitis, the chances of pregnant women giving birth to premature and low birth weight babies will also greatly increase.
Caries, also known as tooth decay, can cause unbearable pain to pregnant women once acute pulpitis or apical inflammation occurs, and careless medication can also have adverse effects on the fetus. So, curing cavities before pregnancy is beneficial for both oneself and the baby. Impacted wisdom teeth refer to the last molar in the oral cavity that cannot fully erupt due to obstruction by the jawbone and other teeth, resulting in some teeth being covered by the gums. The third molar of the lower jaw is the most common. There is a deep gap between the teeth and gums of impacted wisdom teeth, which can easily accumulate food residue, leading to bacterial growth and reproduction, leading to acute and chronic inflammation, commonly known as "wisdom tooth pericoronitis". Due to the fact that wisdom teeth often erupt after the age of 18, and pericoronitis of wisdom teeth is most likely to occur between the ages of 20 and 35, which happens to be the time when women of childbearing age choose to conceive. Therefore, to prevent the occurrence of this disease, impacted wisdom teeth in the oral cavity should be removed before pregnancy.