Pregnancy is important to both the unborn baby and the mother. The duration requires maximum care to ensure the safety of the fetus. It is, therefore, necessary to seek the right information whenever you want to receive medical procedures. And this post will help you understand if dental anesthesia is safe during pregnancy.
But first, you need to know that there are various forms of anesthesia that you can receive from your dentist. Each treatment gives a distinct effect on your body. So, the question remains if it is safe for you to accept anesthesia when going for your dental treatment as an expectant mother.
To begin with, the process of tooth extraction and other procedures are seriously painful. They will most definitely require anesthesia to ease the pain during the procedure.
It is common knowledge that various types of medicine can easily cross the placenta and reach the growing fetus. If it happens, you may end up harming your unborn baby. And this explains why this question is common among expectant mothers, caregivers, and interested parties.
For instance, in the past, dentists used to avoid the use of anesthetic treatments during pregnancy to carry out their dental procedures. But, it turned out that, the procedures caused too much pain and stress on the mother.
Here are some guidelines you can use to ensure that you (the expectant mother) and the unborn baby are both safe while you treat dental conditions.
1. Avoid Dental Treatments in the First Trimester
Unless is it critical and emergency, you should try as much as you can to avoid going for dental treatments for the first three months of your pregnancy. But if you have an emergency, your dentist will advise on the best way forward to treat your condition and sustain the health of the baby.
In a post by the BBC network, however, it is risky to use even painkillers like paracetamol during pregnancy. The report shows that the risk is even greater during the second trimester. They said that using the medication on expectant mothers has an adverse effect on unborn baby boys.
2. The Use of Local Anesthetics
Local anesthetics means the use of anesthetic drugs that only numbs the place where the operation is going to take place. This form of treatment is the best choice for dental care and treatment during pregnancy. It does not affect your normal body functioning or cause any part of you to stop working effectively. It also has no negative effect on unborn babies.
Local anesthetics should help you ease the pain when receiving necessary dental treatments. This form of anesthesia mothers has no effect on the baby when induced to nursing mothers. You can, therefore, receive normal doses of anesthetics after child delivery.
3. Sedation May be of Help
Sedation is the use of drugs to make the patient drowsy and to drift off their anxiety. There are many sedative options a dentist can use to help you ease the anxiety during a dental operation. One of the common options is the use of acupuncture. Music can also help you stay relaxed while receiving your treatments.
Nitrous oxide and diazepam are some of the things to avoid during pregnancy. The latter, for example, should be avoided as early as possible before you get pregnant. Your dentist can use their precordial stethoscope to check your heartbeat and breathing frequency to determine if the sedation they give you helps you to calm down before they do any tooth operation.
4. General Anesthesia is a Big Risk
In surgery, general anesthesia is used to make your whole body unconscious so that you are not aware of what is going on. Your dentist may want to apply general anesthesia to enable them to have uninterrupted access to your teeth and to work on your them effortlessly.
Before you receive a general anesthetic drug for your dental operation, it is ideal for your dentist to know that you are expectant. It will help them to choose the right medicine that will not affect your unborn baby. Do so even if you are not pregnant but planning to be pregnant soon.
Summary
It is common for many women to avoid going for dental treatments because of pregnancy. The suffering and pain that come with dental problems can cause problems on your general health and that of the unborn baby.
You should go for treatment, but let your dentist know about your condition or plans to have a baby soon. This will help them to make the right choice of drugs to administer for the operation. If possible, have all dental treatments like dental panorama, cleaning, tooth extraction, etc. early before you become pregnant for easier management and care for the pregnancy.
