Pregnancy is complicated enough as it is without dealing with tooth loss, but factor an incomplete smile into the equation, and it may feel too overwhelming to know how to proceed. While it’s important to maintain a healthy smile no matter what stage in life you’re in, you may not be able to receive dental implants during pregnancy. Read on to learn more about why this could be the case for you and whether there are any exceptions.
Differentiating Elective Versus Necessary Procedures
At any stage in your life, but especially if you’re pregnant or immunocompromised, it’s important to determine the difference between treatments that are necessary to maintain your health and ones that can wait. A number of factors will be considered to determine this, such as how far along you are in your pregnancy, whether sedation is required, and if it waits, will it put you at a greater risk of health concerns.
For example, an infected tooth can put both you and your baby’s health at risk if it isn’t addressed in a timely manner, so root canal treatment may be deemed medically necessary. On the other hand, living with a missing tooth for six months may increase your risk of minor oral health issues, but may not pose significant health risks to you or your baby.
Should You Get Dental Implants While Pregnant?
Although you may feel disappointed at this answer, your dentist and healthcare providers will likely say that you should not receive dental implants while pregnant. This is due to a variety of reasons, which will be covered in the section below.
Potential Complications of Treatment While Pregnant
When you’re pregnant, you’re at a much higher risk of post-operative complications from your dental implant surgery, as well as the diagnostic imaging process. X-rays can expose both you and your fetus to low levels of radiation more than you would normally be if your dentist was just completing a routine checkup.
Additionally, during pregnancy, you’re at a higher risk of developing an infection, as well as experiencing dental implant failure. This would only necessitate further surgical intervention, and when you’re pregnant, you would not be able to take antibiotics to combat an infection. In short, the number of risks pile up for both you and your fetus when considering getting dental implants during pregnancy.
Don’t feel dismayed just yet, though! Even though you might not be able to complete the surgery, you can still start the process by scheduling a consultation with your dental implant dentist in Cleburne. This can put you ahead of the curve after you give birth, allowing you to move through the process even faster than if you started after your baby has been born.
About the Practice
At Long Family Dental of Cleburne, we utilize the highest quality materials and advanced technology to create a streamlined and precise dental implant process for our patients. This includes CT-guided dental implant placement and the full journey completed in-house by our two highly skilled experts, Dr. Robert and Dr. Chris. To learn more about what this journey will look like for you or to schedule a consultation, visit our website or call 817-645-2437.