Dental Treatment in the first Trimester?

[Midori1999]

I am just over 6 weeks 3 days pregnant and am starting to get toothache. It's not yet unbearable, but it's going to get worse and obviously I need dental treatment. I have a history of miscarriage and so am therefore very scared and paranoid.

Some websites suggest dental treatment is fine in pregnancy, some suggest its best to wait until the second trimester.

Can anyone reassure me? Could the dentist maybe pack the tooth out or something to tide me over for a few weeks until I'm in second tri? Is it safe to have failing/root canal in the first trimester?

Talk to your dentist. I had a routine appt at about the same stage and they said they would avoid X-rays unless necessary. If the pain to you outweighs the risk they might decide to do it, or try antibiotics first - most of those used in dentistry are commonly prescribed in pregnancy. Go early to get it checked, I suspect the longer it is left the fewer treatment options there will be. My dentist was very used to treating pregnant women and said to make an appointment for any concern at all. Good luck x

I don't wish to be alarmist but if you're weighing up relative risks - I have a friend whose baby was born at 24 weeks. She was told by the hospital that it was because she'd got a severe dental infection which she'd ignored and not treated. They told her that severe dental infections bring on early delivery because it triggers the release of some chemical/hormone that triggers labour - I think she told me it was prostaglandin. In her case, they told her the dental infection was definitely the cause and that she should have treated it earlier. I'm no medic and obviously have no idea if her dental problem was anything like yours but I thought I would post as I'd never heard of that connection before and my friend was told it's a well-established one. I don't wish to upset, especially with your miscarriage history.

I'd also have thought that the longer you leave it, the more treatment, anaesthetic and antibiotics are likely to be needed.

Why not discuss with your midwife and dentist? Wishing you well with the pregnancy and hope the tooth is cleared up soon.

Oh and don't forget that sometimes when you get toothache, the dentist will look at it and find nothing wrong - could be referred pain from a cold/blocked sinus etc?

Thanks. I have an appointment for first thing Monday morning. I'm a bit nervous of trusting the dentist as although I have found this one fine, I haven't been using them for very long (new area) and have had really bad experience with dentists in the past.

I will see what they say though.

Could you ask around and find out who is the local dentist for schools/difficult kids etc? I think every area will have one who will specialise in treating young kids etc and they often do pregnant women and nervous patients too. The midwife could know?

I always went to a "school" dentist as a kid and they were lovely and gentle. Always took their time.

I think it helps to remember that you can always walk away. And if you're nervous about the interaction of treatment and pregnancy you can always take time to check with your doc.

I've had to see the dentist in all three trimesters and they will never do anything dangerous to a pregnancy eg x-ray,removing mercury containing fillings etc but have fixed everything temporarily until after the baby is born.If you have toothache now I would definitely go as if it gets worse,paracetamol is not going to be enough but the dentist may be able to give you antibiotics or whatever you need.

Hi I had a root canal in first tri. Had an emergency appointment with out of hours where they started the work - had an X-ray then (though they gave me choice not to - also explained radiation exposure was less than a flight). Then had follow up at own dentist - who didn't want to do X-ray. Anyway at subsequent scans baby has seemed fine - I'm so glad I had it done and didn't let it get any worse.