# Tooth infection harm baby?



## shelbypxoxo

I have a root canal I have been waiting a few months to finally get the crown on and a chip filling right next to it. Well, I went to my dental appt last Thursday but they wouldn't even see me, gave me a form to get a medical clearance from the doctor. I don't know exactly if its infected but the tooth aches sometimes and now the gum surrounding hurts. Now I have to wait to get the form filled and call the dentist to get an appt but they are always booked out and usually schedule appts like a month or two out. Hopefully they can get me in soon. Even if I do get an appt the dentist said he could prescribe antibiotics if infected but would rather work on me after baby is born unless its a emergency.
So while I'm waiting I'm very worried if its infected, is it harming my baby? Could it make me miscarry or go into preterm labor?
I am 14w4d. Last appt at 12w6d showed baby was great.
I don't know if I should schedule to see my ob to see if its infected. My next appt with her isn't until October.


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## ama

I had a tooth infection at 15 weeks and was prescribed amoxicillin which according to my gp is fine in pregnancy , I honestly felt awful with the infection and the antibiotics were a fantastic help and no problems since . My gp said its not healthy to let a tooth infection stay during pregnancy but wouldn't tell me why exactly hmm .baby brain made me forgot to ask for more detail lol , personally I would see your OB as tooth infections when not pregnant can lead to septasemia in occosaions . Not worth the risk IMO .


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## JessPape

U never want to leave an infection in your body while pregnant. An infection can heighten your chance of going in to early labor and cause other issue in pregnancy. Theses issues are normally not common, but they can and do happen.

always seek medical attention, and get help for any infection. I have been given amoxicillin lots in both pregnancies for infections ( I have crappy teeth :( )


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## Ninagrrl

The reason is that if an infection gets into the blood stream it can cause a spontaneous abortion... I believe.. it's something like that, anyway. Your body can't support the life of the baby and fight the infection at the same time so automatically your body chooses you. 

Anyway, your doctor or the emergency room can prescribe pregnancy safe antibiotics and your OB can monitor it until you can safely get a dentist apt. TBH, you might want an OB to prescribe your antibiotics because they are going to be able to give you the best meds for your type of infection that is the best option for pregnancy as well. A bunch of different ones are okay to take during pregnancy but some work better than others and a medical professional that practices in the field is trained in knowing this information, specifically... If that makes sense.


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## MissRhead

Sorry tri hopping but I had to have work on my teeth in my last pregnancy, I had a crown fitted which had to be gold because of being pg and I had a removal, I also had X-rays but with a protective cover over bump, I had no problems and its so much better to get it sorted now rather than later x


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## Storm1jet2

I had antibiotics and 2 root canals with DD, although they only put in temp fillings until after she was born as they wouldn't x-ray. They had no issues cleaning out the nerves etc from the 2 teeth and giving me amoxicilan for the infection though while I was pregnant. Can't your dentist do something similar? I thought they only needed approval for x-rays (in the UK anyway)?


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## Ninagrrl

In the US, things are really different. I have diabetes which comes with teeth problems and I finally got the insurance to fix it when I got pregnant as most insurances don't cover dental. I had overcrowded wisdom teeth that caused two fillings to come out from moving and the decay of those over 4 years took out another tooth in the process so I had to have 6 extractions, 3 wisdom and 3 other teeth plus fillings for 2 others and 2 filling repairs. They did x-rays, cleaned my teeth and did all that work in two sessions and the only thing they weren't allowed to do was use gas for sedation, they had to numb locally and they couldn't prescribe any pain medication for the dental pain so I called my OB and they gave me something for the pain.


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## want2bemommy

I had a soft tissue abscess a few weeks back and they injected it with antibiotics and it went away. I also have an appt to have a tooth pulled next week and my OB said Percocet ok for pain- I was surprised. Best to get anything taken care of asap as long as your OB is aware of the situation


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## wavescrash

Someone posted this in my local mommy group on FB the other day about her best friend, "What we thought was normal tooth sensitivity turned out to be an infected root. She had to have an emergency root canal for which the dentist gave her half a shot of Novocaine. She passed out from the pain. He refused to give antibiotics because she was a "liability". Two days later she woke up her eye swollen shut, her nose swollen closed, and she's spotting.
So she goes to the ER. They tell her the baby's too small, her HCG is too high, and three of her teeth are infected. She is now high risk. She makes an appointment with the OB, the do an ultrasound. She's not as far along as they thought... And the baby is really low. Really really low. There is a 15% chance she is miscarrying. If she doesn't miscarry she has a 95% chance of being diagnosed with placenta previa, which leads to all sorts of scary things to worry about."

So I say get it taken care of immediately (however possible) and make sure you get antibiotics. I don't say this to scare you because this is the only story I've heard like this but after reading it the other day, anytime I hear "root canal" I think of it. And I don't want anyone else to have to go through what she is if they can prevent it.


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