Dental Work While Pregnant - Halethorpe,MD

I had dental work while pregnant and was just fine! They will use something else that is just as effective. As for the wisdom tooth, it really depends on whether or not it has emerged or not?

I had to have a root canal while pregnant so I totally understand your situation. Here is what I did:
1. Talk to your ob/gyn - find out what kind of medication you can have to numb your mouth and what you can take after the work is done.
2. Find out if you can delay the work at all. Unless the cavaties are really bad it seems like you could delay it until you are further along. They delayed my root canal until I was past the 20 week mark.
3. If at all possible delay the wisdom teeth until after you have delivered the baby. You will need strong medication after this procedure and it will be better if you are not pregnant. If you are breastfeeding you can stock pile some milk and then "pump and dump" while you are on the pain meds.
When I had my root canal they gave me the novacain shots in my gums as normal and I did not feel anything - also had no effect on the pregnancy or my little girl. Afterwards I took tylenol to deal with the pain.
The best thing to do is to hold off on as much as you can until the baby is born. As I said, if the cavaties can not wait until then, there is ways you can get it done but it is my understanding that the farther along you are the better for everyone.
Good luck!
PS - I am a total baby too I HATE the dentist and don't see any reason why in this day and age anyone should have to feel any pain. :-)

I had a MAJOR root canal done when I was about 22 weeks along. It took 3 appointments. I believe the medication they use to numb while you are pregnant is called lidocaine, which works just as well as novocaine.

I had a hard time with my general dentist when I was pregnant... he really did not want to work on me at all. I found a specialist who was willing to consult with my OB and they came up with a treatment plan that would be safe for me and my baby and would not sacrifice my comfort.

There are risks both ways with your situation... if you treat the problem, you could have some complications (but I think those are rare) and if you don't you risk further infection and an emergency situation. You need to talk to your dentist and find out exactly how much risk there is in waiting with the wisdom tooth. If the procedure is not absolutely necessary at this point, and can be put off until you deliver, then I would wait. For the cavities, just get it done now so you don't risk further damage and more complicated and more costly procedures later. Pregnancy does a number on your teeth and gums and cavities that might take a long time to develop can progress much more quickly during pregnancy.

Good luck.

You can have the cavity filleed with no problem. I do not who told you you could not use novicaine, because that is not true. It is safe during pregnancy. I would bring a little throw pillow though and place it under the right side of your butt to help a bit with blood flow. It is a great time to have it done though as your uterus is small enough not to push up and cause shortness of breath when you go back in the chair. Have it filled now as you do not want an infection to set in and cause problems later. So safe and fine. No more pain than any other time.

I would wait on the wisdom teeth. They can use local for this if the tooth is already on the surface, but if not, the anesthesia is not worth it. Wisdom teeth even though can cause problems; generally can be put off for a few months. So wait until after baby is born for this.

Good Luck! I do not see any problems though. It will have some pain; but not because you are pregnant; just becausee dental work does. No more pain than if you were not pregnant. The pain of dental work does not compare to the pain of labor, so you will be fine.

You are not being a big baby-and the dentist may not be giving you all the reassurance that you need. The fillings won't be too tough-maybe drilling for not even thirty seconds-total-you can get through thatbut the wisdom tooth-it depends on how bad it is-my one son had all four out at the same time-they were very badly impacted-one I think was growing onto the jawbone-so he was not asleep-but my oldest son-got the last two out -and was awake-so-get the info from the dentist-and shame on him for scaring you!

You are definitely not being a big baby! I personally wouldn't be able to go through with the cavities, I'd wait on those too if I were you. When I was pregnant with my son and right after I had him I had gingivitis really bad (pregnancy does a number on your gums). They wanted to do a procedure but couldn't because I was breastfeeding, I waited and it was good that I did because the problem went away on it's own. I know that this isn't the case with cavities or even wisdom teeth, but if I were you I wouldn't put myself through any more pain than is necessary. I'm not sure about whether you can have novacaine or not, but I don't see why you wouldn't since it's numbing your mouth and not causing numbing anywhere else? I would ask your OB/GYN.

I had a root canal done at 16 weeks. The only thing that sucked was not being able to take Valium or similar to calm me down beforehand. The actual procedure was really not bad. They should know that you are pregnant, and they should ask you a bunch of questions related to the pregnancy, like is your BP elevated, etc. They will also likely want a fax from your OB of drugs that are OK to use on you. They used a local on me, and while it felt weird it did not hurt. It didn't even hurt afterward. I know it is scary, but you will be so relieved when it is done!
I agree with PP that if you can wait on the wisdom teeth, wait. If there are issues with infection from them, you should weigh that, but if they are healthy and just in a bad position, I would wait.

As far as the wisdom tooth, if there is no immediate problem I would wait until after the baby is born. There may be pain afterwards and you'll be limited as to what you can take for pain. I had to have some dental work done my last pregnancy and they did use a little Novocain for the temporary fix. Then after my daughter was born I went in to have the cap done.

I'm also pregnant now and I know I have one or 2 very small cavities. The dentist is fine waiting until after I deliver in April to have them taken care of.

Talk to you Dr. and dentist and see if this is stuff that can wait until after you deliver. I would only do it now if you're in pain.

Good Luck
R.

Why in the world can't you have Novocaine? As for dental work, Oklahoma gives pregnant women who are low income free dental care while pregnant and lots of them have tons of work done and have the shots in the mouth.

I had novacaine when I was pregnant (had to have a root canal) it was at the end of my pregnancy and an emergency. So far, my 5yo son is fine - lol.

I had a filling filled a couple of weeks ago and for fun (didn't want to be numb) I asked if he thought I could do it w/out novicaine, he said - you can try and if it bothers you, we'll give you novicaine. I cant' believe how easy it was. It's all mental. As soon as I remembered I didnt' have novicaine I began to panic a little, waiting for some pain. But it didn't hurt at all!

Do you HAVE to have these procedures done now? If not, I would totally wait. At least wait for the wisdom teeth - that would be a tad more painful than having a cavity filled. My wisdom teeth were impacted so this had to be done by an oral surgeon. I just read the post below and we are recommending the opposite. lol.

yes, I had a Novocaine alternative and it worked just fine. Yes, get your dental work done while pregnant, since you won't have time after baby comes. Yes fill cavities before you need crowns! I've had all my wisdom teeth pulled by a general dentist. They popped out easy. If they don't come out easy, you'll be sent to the oral surgeon.

I had a wisdom tooth pulled while 30 weeks pregnant. The doctor numbed the area and pulled the tooth out. I just closed my eyes while he was doing the work so I wouldn't have to look at the tooth. It didn't hurt at all, I felt some tugging and pulling but it didn't hurt. The doctor gave me some pain killers to use afterwards, but I didn't use them, I just took tylenol. My tooth was really bothering me before because it had a cavity so having it pulled was so much better.

Wow, dear -- I would wait for the baby to be born before having my wisdom teeth out if I were you.

My SIL had a root canal done while pregnant. She didn't tell them she was pregnant (she was about 8 weeks and not showing) because she wanted the novacaine. I don't know what the affects are. As for the wisdom teeth, I had twilight anesthesia, (you are awake, but don't know you are). If they can't give you anything, I would strongly advise waiting until you are not pregnant to have this done if possible.

Dental work is generally done in the second trimester so you are good there. They can use Novocain. It is very localized. I had to have work finished when i was in my 1st trimester (and my hubby was in dental school) and he and one of the profs did research to make sure we could use novacain and everything said it was fine. I ended up not needing it though.

For me, I would probably wait on the wisdom tooth since that can be a bigger deal. If it's not causing pain/problems then why not wait?