Q&A: How Pregnancy Affects Your Oral Health

Pregnancy Podcast

Vanessa Merten

Newborn, Parent, Homebirth, Vbac, Kids & Family, Doula, Firsttimemom, Midwife, Pregnancy, Doctor, Parenting, Pregnant, Vanessamerten, Physician, Csection, Prenatalcare, Breastfeeding, Naturalbirth, Nursing, Birthcenter, Family, Baby, Hospitalbirth, Health, Obgyn, Research, Trimester, Expecting, Labor, Mom, Diet, Dad, Birth

4.5 • 948 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Pregnancy can bring unexpected changes to your mouth, including swollen or bleeding gums, increased sensitivity, and shifts in your oral microbiome. This episode examines how hormones, changes in the immune system, and daily habits affect your oral health during pregnancy. Learn why symptoms like bleeding gums are common, what you can do to prevent gum disease, and why dental care is both safe and essential while you are expecting. Whether you are currently experiencing symptoms or just want to stay ahead of potential issues, this episode will help you understand how to care for your teeth and gums throughout pregnancy.

Thank you to our sponsor

Zahler goes above and beyond to use high-quality bioavailable ingredients like the active form of folate, bioavailable iron, and omega 3s. The Zahler Prenatal +DHA is my #1 recommendation for a high-quality prenatal vitamin. In May 2025, you can save 40% off the Zahler Prenatal +DHA on Amazon with the code PREPOD40. Plus, if you email your order number to [email protected] you will get a free copy of the Your Birth Plan book. You can always see the details and the current promo code for the Zahler prenatal vitamin by clicking here.

Read the full article and resources that accompany this episode.

Join Pregnancy Podcast Premium to access the entire back catalog, listen to all episodes ad-free, get a copy of the Your Birth Plan Book, and more.

Check out the 40 Weeks podcast to learn how your baby grows each week and what is happening in your body. Plus, get a heads up on what to expect at your prenatal appointments and a tip for dads and partners.

For more evidence-based information, visit the Pregnancy Podcast website.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to the pregnancy podcast with Vanessa Merton.
0:10.4	Hello, thank you for tuning into the pregnancy podcast.
0:15.3	In today's episode, we're talking about how pregnancy affects your oral health.
0:21.3	Pregnancy can bring some unexpected changes to your mouth,
0:25.4	including swollen or bleeding gums, increased sensitivity,
0:30.4	and shifts in your oral microbiome.
0:33.8	This episode examines how hormones, changes in your immune system, and daily habits affect your oral health when you're pregnant.
0:42.9	Learn why symptoms like bleeding gums are common, what you can do to prevent gum disease, and why dental care is both safe and essential when you're expecting. Whether you are currently experiencing
0:57.5	symptoms or just want to stay ahead of potential issues, this episode will help you understand
1:04.2	how to care for your teeth and gums throughout your pregnancy. You can find the complete article
1:10.2	and all of the resources for this episode
1:13.0	at Pregnancypodcast.com slash oral health. You are currently listening to the public feed of the
1:22.1	podcast, which gives you access to the last year of episodes with advertisements.
1:28.8	Become a Pregnancy Podcast Premium member to get every episode ad-free,
1:35.1	including hundreds of episodes exclusively available to premium members.
1:40.8	Check out Pregnancy Podcast Premium at Pregnancy pregnancy podcast.com slash premium.
1:49.3	Thank you to Zoller for their support of this episode. It is critical that you take a high
1:55.8	quality prenatal vitamin when you're pregnant. And the Zollar prenatal plus DHA is my number one recommendation.
2:03.8	Zollar goes above and beyond in formulating their prenatal, and they base their ingredients on the
2:09.7	current scientific evidence. The form of iron that they use provides optimal absorption,
2:15.9	and it's easy on the stomach and non-constipating.
2:19.5	That's a very common pregnancy symptom that's exacerbated by additional iron in your prenatal.
	...

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