Motherhood and Dental Care

I remember reading that the more children a woman has, the more likely she is to have problems with her teeth.

There are many reasons for this. I have fallen asleep while reading bedtime stories and been too exhausted to get up, put my pyjamas on and brush my teeth. Plus, there is the fact that breastfeeding depletes the bodies calcium stores. The stores recover, but not before your teeth and bones become vulnerable.

And then, there’s making an appointment. Today, I am going to the dentist’s office. I’ll leave the baby with a retired family friend and bring my three year-old whose only experience of dentists is a particular Mr.Bean sketch. It has been an exercise in scheduling gymnastics.

Still, I am not sure it’s a good time for an appointment. There are so few “good times” for a dentist appointment in a mother’s life.

Dental x-rays have been linked to a greater risk of low birth-weight babies, so the March of Dimes advises women to see their dentists before becoming pregnant and delaying x-rays until after the birth.

And yet, after the birth there are still concerns. According to the Breastfeeding Network in the UK, women should avoid having old fillings replaced while lactating to prevent the possibility of mercury being passed into the milk. Luckily, dental anaethesia is generally metabolised before it can be absorbed into the breastmilk, but babies have still been known to reject their mother’s milk for the first feeding after dental treatment.

But the fear of being a toothless old granny before I even have grandchildren is driving me to the dentist.

When was the last time you had a dental check up and cleaning?