Prevention begins during pregnancy

Right from a baby’s first months of life, prevention of tooth decay and mouth diseases is very important, being the mouth a child’s main means of experimenting and discovering the world as well as eating and communicating.

The teething phase begins in embryonic age: from the sixth week of pregnancy, 20 sites grow on the arches, where the milk teeth will then start to calcify from the fourth month of pregnancy.

There are some precautions which a mother can take during pregnancy and which will help her, as well as her child, to have a good oral health and favor the baby’s teething:

• Give up smoking, both active and passive; smoke reduces the intake of oxygen thus compromising the healthy growth of the fetus and the formation of teeth.

• Take good care of diet by increasing the intake of Vitamin C and calcium, which favor the calcification and the mineralization of teeth and bones.

• Increase the intake of fluoride: a high fluoride concentration is to be favored for drinking and cooking water, as well as for toothpastes and mouthwash.
  Dentists suggest this kind of patients to apply a fluoride gel on the teeth at least twice during the pregnancy: this gel can be applied by wearing a tooth mask for at least 5 minutes.

• Take good care of personal oral hygiene: a good oral hygiene is always fundamental, but it is even more so during pregnancy, when different hormone levels may affect the oral mucosa and expose it to bacteria, and gingival sensitivity may become more acute, leading to a higher chance of imflammation.

• In-office professional dental hygiene sessions are also recommended around the 2nd-3rd month and the 8th month of pregnancy.