I had posted a few weeks ago about my upcoming dental appointment and being excited while also a bit concerned. Just an update, they did find additional periodontitis pockets, though much smaller in size. They are actually very common in pregnancy. Many women get gum issues due to the hormonal changes in the body.
While there are various option to treat pockets that do not heal on their own, the first step is a deep cleansing. And they tend not to do those big treatments during pregnancy. But so far it seems to have helped. I still have issue with food getting in the pocket and it is uncomfortable, but no longer painful. I am also able to use floss, albeit it takes a few minutes of work, but much better on the gums then those brushes.
They also gave me a homeopathic toothpaste that is supposed to be good for inflamed gums. Germans utilize a lot of herbs and homeopathic medicines. But man that stuff tasted icky, took some getting used to, I tell ya.
So here is what they suggested to me and may be helpful to other expectant moms with gum issues.
1. Invest in a natural or medicinal toothpaste. Warning these cost more, sometimes ads much as 5 euro, yikes, But I use it once a day before bed so the effects really have time to work.
2. Brush at least morning and night and if possible after lunch as well.
3. Floss daily, best at night, and only after you have brushed your teeth. Otherwise you are just pushing more crude in rather then removing it. Make sure you do not use the same point of floss in multiple teeth, you should have a long piece that you work along so each tooth gets a fresh bit of floss. Also enter between the teeth with gentle back and forth motions versus just pushing straight up or down, and make sure you get below the gum line.
4. Use a antibacterial mouth wash, but no more then 2 times a week.
5. If possible invest in an electric toothbrush. Need not be the fancy ones, even the colgate 30 euro one works better then brushing by hand, because we commonly use the wrong movements. We should brush in circles rather then strokes.
Hopefully that will be able to help some of you guys, it has been a great help to me. Since my cleaning I have not once had that excruciating pain I used to get every time I ate. The pockets do not instantly go away, but when they are less inflamed they have the chance to heal or shrink in size and be less accommodating to misplaced food bits.
2 comments:
Wow I had no idea this could happen. Great tips! How's your pregnancy going? Do you know the gender yet?
I had this with my second pregnancy, and I agree it is painful. Not so much to have it, but the cleaning it out. I pray that I never have to go through anything like that again.
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