Endodontic Experience

Us pregnant ladies are supposed to make sure we receive regular dental care. Dr. Spock explains why dental care is so important and why dental problems seem to crop up for pregnant ladies:

Gingivitis (an inflammation of the gums) is a common problem, which may be the result of increased blood flow to the gums caused by pregnancy hormones. It can lead to bleeding gums and has been associated with complications of pregnancy, such as premature birth. It isn't known whether gingivitis directly causes premature labor or whether it's a marker for poor self-care and other health risks that might predispose a woman to pre-term birth. It's always wise to take good care of your teeth; just consider the potential risk of pre-term birth as one more reason to pay attention to this aspect of your health.

I did not worry too much about dental care during the first pregnancy. Well, I worried about it, but I didn't do anything about it during the first pregnancy. I really, really needed to have my teeth x-rayed to check for cavities. Since it's very difficult to get a full set of x-rays during pregnancy, I figured I would wait until until Annie was born, then I'd go to the dentist.

I made appointments for a dental cleaning and exam when Annie was 6 months old, thinking she's old enough for to manage the appointment. Alas, I was already pregnant again. So for this second pregnancy, I was taking good care of my teeth, but more by default rather than actual design.

I had a cleaning, but no x-rays. Not a huge deal, but the dentist told me to come back as soon as the baby was born so we could get a good look at my teeth.

A couple weeks ago, I was up all night with a toothache. Went back to the dentist to check it out. He was glad I came, but wanted to proceed cautiously as I was still pregnant. He draped two lead-aprons over my belly, assured me a quick x-ray was safe, and targeted the tooth that ached. He then referred me to a specialist.

The specialist is an endodontist. To become an endodontist, you must go to school for an extra two years. An endodontist is defined as someone who studies "a branch of dentistry concerned with diseases of the pulp." He recommended a root canal cause that's what he does. So I had a root canal yesterday.

It wasn't as uncomfortable as I expected. When you have a cavity filled, they use the drill. The drill vibrates and is pretty uncomfortable as far as I'm concerned. For a root canal they don't really drill so much as file the tooth. Kinda feels like having your tooth flossed from the inside. Not so bad really. Today my tooth is a little sensitive, where you want to chew your food on the other side of your mouth, not go to the dentist for the toothache kind of thing. Overall an improvement. I still need to return to my regular dentist for a crown though...