I want to start off by saying that my teeth were never perfect. Since I was little, it was always pretty easy to crack or chip them while eating seemly normal foods. I also want to say that I had a horrible sweet tooth which lead to my first cavity when I was a teenager.
Honestly, if the tooth wasn’t a bother whether chipped, cracked, or containg a cavity I thought it couldn’t get worse. So I brushed, flossed, and swished burning peppermint mouth wash in attempts to maintain all my healthy teeth.
When I got pregnant for the first time that’s when I noticed a change with my teeth and gums. I got toothaches more frequently and seemingly with out cause. I didn’t see any new cavities or or had chipped any more teeth. Still, it felt like there was a monster inside my gums that was trying to break out.
Chocolate, my favorite treat, made me gag. I could bearly stomach anything that wasn’t fruit or grape juice. I was up chuckling atleast six times a day from either more sickness or acid reflux. At this point, my teeth were all still pretty much intact.
Last year my third and last child was born. My pregnancy with him had to be the hardest, both physically and mentally. I was stressed, severely depressed, raising two other children and dealing with a toxic relationship. I had so much on my plate and my teeth just added to the list.
When I started having morning sickness, it was the worst I ever had. In less than a week and a half I dropped from 141lbs to 119. The only thing I could consume for over a month was powerade and salt and vinegar chips. I couldn’t eat any type of meat because the smell alone sent me over the toilet. I was throwing up ten to fifteen times a day. I thought I was dying.
If that wasn’t damaging enough to my teeth, I also suffered from extreme dry mouth and I began grinding my teeth in my sleep. The grinding was so bad I’d wake up with chipped tooth fragments in my mouth. I noticed that my teeth began breaking apart during any type of chew. Pieces of my teeth would even get lodged in my chewing gum.
I wanted to go to a dentist but I didn’t. Between my kids and putting up with my ex, I just never made a visit. It shattered my self esteem. I’d look in the mirror and want to cry.
Recently, I decided to visit a dentist. I’m at a better place mentally and physically now so I thought it was finally time to fix the chaos that had occurred in my mouth. I want my complete confidence back and going to the dentist was suppose to do that.
I was super excited for my first visit. The dental assistant did lots of xrays and took many pictures. I was feeling hopeful. When the dentist came, she laid out flat. I was going to need teeth pulled, and have crowns done. My teeth are in such bad shape that she needed more time to determine what I needed to get done. I wanted to burst into tears. I felt hopeless and wanted to run home to eat every ounce of sugar I could because heck, if I was going to loose so many of my teeth, what would it matter?
I didn’t go on a candy binge because it would have defeated what I wanted to accomplish: gain healthy teeth and gums. I wish I knew more about how pregnancy affected dental health. That hormones would be just as big a factor as morning sickness. I wish I had been more proactive. Now, I have to suffer the consequences.
You May read this and think, “hey, it’s your own fault.” You could also be reading this as someone who’s been through it. Regardless, you’re reading this. I don’t here much women talk about it but it’s a real thing. As awesome as pregnancy is, it can have a serious affect on your teeth. I hope more people talk about it. As for me, I’ll continue to work on providing aware.
You can check out my video about this here
As always guys ((HUGGS and LOVE))
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