How to protect your unborn baby's teeth

Most mums start taking care of their babies long before they are born.

Part of this process includes getting plenty of rest, eating well, making regular visits to the doctor, and taking prenatal vitamins. What you might not know is that your baby’s teeth need to be thought about at this time also.

Doing these things consistently during the week by week baby development during pregnancy helps ensure that the baby will arrive healthy and strong.

Taking care of baby’s dental development before they are born makes a difference to the condition of their teeth from when they make their first appearance until they reach an advanced age. Baby teeth start to develop in the second month of pregnancy.

An expectant mother has several ways to maximise her baby’s dental health during the stages of development of the fetus.

Here are a few of the ways to help your baby develop strong healthy teeth:

Visit the dentist

Before the baby is born, and even before the mother gets pregnant, she should make sure that her own oral health is at its best by having regular visits to the dentist.

Babies who are born to mothers with gum disease are at greater risk for infections, low birth rate, and in some cases being born premature.

Women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should notify their dentists.

Get enough minerals in the diet

In order for tooth enamel to develop normally, minerals including calcium and phosphorus are important to ensure that babies have no enamel deficiency. Lack of sufficient enamel leads to tooth decay and tooth loss.

A good prenatal vitamin should have sufficient quantities of the necessary minerals to promote healthy teeth.

Relax

Stress causes nutrients that are vital to the baby’s development to be absorbed more slowly or not at all.

It is important that the pregnancy remains as stress-free as possible so that the developing fetus absorbs the vitamins and minerals necessary for healthy teeth.

Each of the stages of pregnancy development is greatly influenced by the stress levels of the expectant mother.

Quit smoking

Just as stress prevents nutrients from efficient use by the fetus, smoking also hinders healthy growth and is one of the causes of low birth weight and premature delivery. Any activity that keeps nutrients from being absorbed effects the development of healthy teeth.

Ask for an alternative antibiotic to Tetracycline

Sometimes it is necessary to take an antibiotic during pregnancy due to an infection. Taking the antibiotic tetracycline could cause a staining of the baby’s permanent teeth.

Asking the doctor for an alternative antibiotic to treat infection is a reasonable request for an expectant mum when it comes to protecting her unborn child’s dental health.

With assistance from her dentist and primary care provider, the expectant mother knows that her child will be born with the best possible start to a life full of healthy smiles.

Do you have any other tips to add to this list? Please share in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

25 Comments

- - VernaB said
  - 21 Feb 2016
    11:23 pm
Thanks for the article, was helpful reading this.

- - rachelvk said
  - 19 Feb 2016
    10:05 am
A great article. It is incredible how our actions as pregnant mums can have such an impact on the development of our little ones in utero.

- - Mummytoabeautifulprincess said
  - 17 Feb 2016
    11:44 am
Thanks for the article. You don’t really think about babys teeth until you can actually see them.

- - curlytops said
  - 19 Dec 2015
    12:14 am
what a cute little photo of a baby!

- - Nas01 said
  - 06 Dec 2015
    7:17 pm
I totally agree, pregnancy always made my gums ultra sensative so visiting a dentist through out pregnancy is vital for both mother and babies dental health.

- - mom107723 said
  - 02 Dec 2015
    9:52 pm
Thank you for sharing your interesting article on pre-teeth.

- - mom81879 said
  - 10 Nov 2015
    6:33 pm
A very interesting article, who would’ve thought? My great nephew lost all his baby teeth before they erupted due to medication he had to take. First I heard of it

- - mom94378 said
  - 05 Nov 2015
    10:07 pm
Fascinating article, had previously never given this a lot of thought.

- - robyn_smithwick said
  - 02 Nov 2015
    4:34 pm
This is full of excellent advice. Did you know that smoking can alter the state of every tissue in the body? Years ago I saw specimens of uteri [wombs] that were obtained from autopsies and the wombs from the women that were heavy smokers were black , lighter smokers less black and non smokers a healthy pinkish red! I have always remembered that!

- - june11 said
  - 30 Oct 2015
    11:26 pm
I would seek advice from a Dentist, not just a Doctor.

- - Mum of 5 darlings :) said
  - 27 Oct 2015
    7:09 am
Although I already have had 5 children & have now had a hysterectomy, I think this article is great & very informative for Mums to be.
- mom93821 replied
  
  05 Dec 2015 , 6:21 pm
  A good article for mums to share with other mums.
- - 4littlemunchkins said
  - 26 Oct 2015
    10:05 pm
Didn’t know about any of these at all.

- - jellybean01 said
  - 25 Oct 2015
    11:24 pm
thanks for sharing I found this very interesting

- - mom94125 said
  - 23 Oct 2015
    12:50 pm
the blue wiggle- when his mother was pregnant with him, she had something that the doc pescribed for her, it turns out that it discoloured all his bones and his teeth. he has fixed them up now.

- - hopefullyheidi said
  - 21 Oct 2015
    1:02 pm
Great article for the developing teeth

- - mom93821 said
  - 20 Oct 2015
    7:23 pm
An interesting article and definitely important to look after teeth before, during and after pregnancy.

- - mom113055 said
  - 20 Oct 2015
    2:26 pm
they look cute with the new teeths

- - mom74640 said
  - 20 Oct 2015
    11:34 am
Lke it

- - youngoldlady said
  - 19 Oct 2015
    11:46 pm
Very important what mums do before bub is born and after. I know as my teeth have been stained by antibiotics before and after birth.
- mom93821 replied
  
  21 Oct 2015 , 7:11 am
  Yep! My teeth even with care – got hit hard, but it would have been worse without the care.
- - Carolineb said
  - 19 Oct 2015
    8:45 pm
Great read. I didn’t know these facts.