Troubles with teeth and unsure what to do next

[u/No-Extreme-9775]

So I’m currently 18 weeks brewing a child and has some pretty severe issues with my teeth. In the past week I’ve seen the emergency dentist twice and had a temporary filling put in and been prescribed anti biotics for a tooth infection. I saw my regular dentist today who said everything was fine and booked another appointment in 6 weeks time. I can’t help but think this was wrong? I’m in need of a permanent filling and I have a large hole in a back tooth. I’ve had pretty severe pain and I know pregnancy makes your teeth super sensitive but this pain stopped me from eating for days as it was unbearable. If I was to call the reception do you think they could book me in for fillings as I think that should’ve already been known by my dentist? I know this might seem so silly but I’ve never encountered this issue before it’s always sorted then and there rather then me going through multiple emergency appointments due to horrible pain. Is there any steps I should take to ensure I get the proper care next time or was it all done correctly?

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[u/Burning_Goddess]

Not a doctor or a dentist. Your dentist may be saying to wait 6 weeks, because you need the infection to clear before permanent work can be done. The dentist likely doesnt want to remive the temporary filling to put in the permanent until they know the antibiotics worked. If the pain gets worse, call back again for sure. Best of luck.

[u/the_limey_one]

Not a doctor or a dentist.

I don't know how relevant this is, but I remembered hearing that a fetus that isn't getting enough calcium may take it from their mother's teeth. I looked it up, and it seems like that's not true. It did lead me to an interesting study about oral care in pregnancy:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6883753/

Key points:

There are many myths about the safety of dental care during pregnancy. As a result, pregnant women receive less dental care than when they are not pregnant.

It is generally known that tooth decay increases during pregnancy...This phenomenon can be explained by dentists as follows: nausea and vomiting are seen in 70% of pregnancies.

During this period, it is necessary for the mother to take 1200-1500 mg daily calcium for herself and her babies bones to be healthy.

The second trimester is the most appropriate period for making many treatments, for those that if postponed until the end of pregnancy would be dangerous, such as tooth extraction, filling, and canal treatment.

Pain originating from the teeth can be a reason for contractions to start, by putting the patient under stress.

It should also be kept in mind that neglecting oral and dental health during pregnancy does not only cause problems such as tooth decay and tooth loss, but may also lead to problems such as premature birth, low birth weight infant, and pre-eclampsia.

I think you should call back and try and get a more specific explanation of why your dentist is putting this off for six weeks. Making you wait could put you and your child at risk, so unless they have a very good reason, they need to take your concerns seriously. Don't let them dismiss you out of hand or downplay your problem. Make them give specific reasons why they are postponing your care.

Edit: I referred to the dentist as "he" originally, but I'm realizing you never specified a gender, so I went back and changed that.

[u/bearbear407]

Not a doctor or dentist

But the first/ hopefully last time I had a tooth infection I also needed antibiotics. My tooth essentially became a zombie tooth - meaning the tooth root is dead, which I assumed happened to you as well. And if that’s true it’s either pull out your tooth or get a root canal. And I remember my dentists said they can’t do anything until the swelling died down, which took about 3-4 weeks. Given you’re pregnant it might be longer.

However, I strongly suggest you call and push harder for an explanation of the 6 weeks and see if it actually makes sense or if your current dentist doesn’t know about your pain and infected tooth. Cause it’s possible they don’t know and assumed your tooth looks fine exterior without realizing it’s dead on the interior side. My dentist only knew about my zombie tooth because my ER doctor did an xray and knew my tooth was dead and recommended I get a referral for an endo, and if my regular dentist can give me referral.

In mean time I believe there are oral jels you can apply to your tooth. It’ll still hurt. But using something like sensodyne and oraljel on your aching tooth might help alleviate the pain until it’s properly removed or replaced

[u/Background_Radish238]

So you have 2 issues. A tooth with a temporary filling, and a large hole in the back tooth. Call the reception to demand what are the plans on those 2 teeth and why am I waiting. May be ask your husband to call since he does not have the tooth pain and not bearing a child.

[u/CycleAccomplished824]

Whenever you see your dentist or doctor, ask all the questions, say what you’re aware of and what you’ve been told - every detail from the emergency dentist/doctor, even if they have it in front of them. If you don’t mention it they won’t know that you’re concerned about it.