Dental work during pregnancy - a bit long, sorry!

[Elednor]

Hi all Been lurking around the pregnancy board for a while but haven't had the nerve to post ... probably spent too much time lurking in AIBU

I've got an infected root canal and am scheduled to have work done on 24th July. I'll be having a re-root canal with the local anaesthetic and maybe a couple of x-rays.

I'll also be 10 weeks pregnant when I have my dental work done, and as of last night I found out that it's twins!

I've already seen two heartbeats but my sonographer made it clear I'm definitely not out of the woods as the risk of miscarriage is much higher in multiples. The dentist would be happy to do it after my pregnancy, as the infection doesn't seem to be too bad (although no x-rays so it's all guesswork at this point) however I suffer from extreme dental anxiety and at my worst, I can barely eat or talk - all I can think about is my infected tooth. This is due to a bad experience I had a couple of years ago with my root canal and it's so bad that I am constantly examining my teeth and gums, convinced there's something seriously wrong with me - this is why I opted to have the work done now, because I'm genuinely not coping with the anxiety, it has been totally dominating my life :(

I'm just scared that I'm endangering my babies by having x-rays on my teeth done and having the local anaesthetic in my gums - I realise that lots of pregnant have urgent dental work done, but this isn't an urgent need and feels like a purely selfish decision made by me OTOH, if my anxiety were to continue like this, I really would feel like I would have a breakdown. I'll be putting myself on the list for counselling for anxiety (again) but it's a long wait!

Can anyone reassure me that I'm not being completely selfish and I'm not taking a huge risk with my babies by doing this? Sorry it was so long

I am not a medic so can't help you on that front, but stress is not good for your babies, and I'd this is likely to cause you so much anxiety throughout pregnancy do it sooner rather than later. I think local anaesthetic is ok - I had a general anaesthetic at 6 weeks and dd is now a bouncing 8 month old.

I have been terrified of the dentist for years and had got my gums into a total state which pregnancy made far worse. I've now had it dealt with and the relief is amazing. I found a really lovely dentist and v sympathetic hygienist.

Good luck an congratulations on having twins!!

Congratulations on your twins OP - how exciting!
I had a similar infection at about 8 weeks. I too felt very anxious, but my dentist was very reassuring. I didn't have any x-rays done, but I did have local anaesthetic. I've had the area 'made good' until baby is born, then will be back for x-rays and more extensive work. My dentist mentioned best to nip infection in the bud, before baby is reliant on placenta and infection could be passed on.
I'm 18 weeks now, and all is well. Good luck.

Thanks I'm sure it'll be fine, from websites I've read it says that there really isn't a risk - it's just making me realllllly nervous because my dentist was reluctant to do the treatment in the first place!

Had bad dental problems with a tooth...had an xray, two attempts at filling and finally extraction...the dentist assured me everything was safe and ok. I could have had root canal but I just wanted the tooth out add I was so tired of it all. There didn't seem to be any side effects re treatment. Consolations and good luck!