Oral health in pregnancy

Abstract

The changes during pregnancy are of vital importance to maintain an optimal state of health in the mother and proper development for the fetus, however, some of these physiological, hormonal and dietary changes present in pregnancy, have an influence on the oral condition and in turn can alter and increase the risk of developing any oral disease or otherwise accelerate the evolution of any of them. Currently, scientific literature mentions a possible association between diseases and inflammatory conditions present in the oral cavity and the physiological state of pregnancy. Specifically, periodontal diseases such as gingivitis of pregnancy that can have a prevalence ranging from 35 to 100 %, periodontitis that occurs in a lower percentage, but is considerable and ranges from 30 to 40 % and granuloma of pregnancy occupying a prevalence of 1 to 5 %, which have the ability to influence conditions that are associated with pregnancy, such as eclampsia, preeclampsia, diabetes and gestational diabetes. The purpose of this article is to provide information on the complexity of maintaining oral health during this crucial stage of pregnancy and how they can influence both positively and negatively one with the other, as well as the most common diseases in this period and thus can share this information on the importance of maintaining oral health properly in the period of pregnancy.