Abstract
Even today, many women are convinced that pregnancy causes tooth loss (‘a tooth for every child’) or that calcium can be withdrawn from the maternal dentition to supply foetal requirements, thereby resulting in ‘soft teeth’. We must therefore emphasise that the relationship between tooth decay and pregnancy is not well defined, but it appears that pregnancy per se does not directly contribute to the decay process. It is more likely that any increase in tooth decay during pregnancy can be attributable to diet and poor oral hygiene. Furthermore, calcium is present in the teeth in a stable crystalline form, and, as such, is not available to supply a calcium demand. However, calcium is readily mobilised from bone to supply these demands.
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Further Reading
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© 1997 Margaret Lindsay Hunter and Bruce Hunter
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Hunter, L., Hunter, B. (1997). Oral and dental problems associated with pregnancy. In: Oral Healthcare in Pregnancy and Infancy. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13791-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-13791-6_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-64082-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-13791-6
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