Removing Wisdom Teeth when Pregnant?

[chels_c2000]

So, I just found out I was pregnant on Friday and I am suppose to get my wisdom teeth pulled this Friday. I really need to get them out. They have been bothering me and I keep putting it off. Is this safe to do? Is it safe to be put under?

Thanks for the help

[Mommel]

Nope. Not terribly safe from what I have read and heard. And if your dentist is a good one, he/she will likely not perform the surgery if they know you are pregnant. Call them right away to tell them and see what they have to say, and then read up about it on the web if you can. 

[GoGoGirl]

I just asked my midwife about this, and she said sedation isn't safe while pregnant.  So for me, she recommended either seeing if I could do it with local (haven't asked the dentist yet, but I'm probably not that brave!) or waiting until the baby is born.

[chels_c2000]

I really want to do it was just local. So I am hoping the pregnancy will be a good excuse. My biggest concern is how much longer I will have to wait to have my wisdom teeth out. I know when I went for my consult, they told me I couldn't nurse for at least 24 hours. Which for me means that I am at least 2 years from getting them out. I am not willing to risk my nursing relationship for them to come out. But I am also not willing to risk my baby either, if there is a risk.

[Alenushka]

You need to talk to the dentist about your options. It all depends on what state your teeth are in. Is there a lot of pain? Infection/ What sedataion options the dentist has etc. Also, have your dentist talk to your OB

[Sweet.Bee]

I had problems with my wisdom teeth before getting pregnant last time. I waited to get them out until a few months after giving birth. The surgeon told me the local anesthetic was not safe during the first trimester but was ok after that. But you should ask your surgeon, as they may have a different opinion or use different anesthesia.

I should mention that my milk supply plummeted very shortly after my surgery. I'm not sure whether it happened because of the surgery, but I do wonder about the timing. The result was my son lost half a kilogram in 2 weeks and had to be supplemented with formula to get his weight back up. He then decided he didn't want my sad milk supply anymore. 

I'm not saying this would happen to you. It was just my unfortunate experience.

edit: GoGoGirl, local anesthesia is not so bad. You don't feel anything at all (ok, you feel pricks when they give you the anesthetic shots in your mouth, which taste horrible, btw ). But no pain during the surgery. Sure, I could tell the surgeon was pulling/drilling/etc, so if that creeps you out, then maybe local isn't the best choice. I had one side done, then the other a few months later. The recovery was not fun, but the surgery itself was not so awful.

Edited by Sweet.Bee - 7/24/11 at 11:46pm

[bignerpie]

Not the same, but I had a root canal when I was 10 weeks pregnant with my first. I had an abscessed tooth and ended up in the emergency room one night because I couldn't stand the pain anymore.

They have to use a different local anesthetic, not one of the -caines, and they don't last as long. I had 3 more injections during the root canal because the anesthetic kept wearing off.

There was no way I could have waited to have the root canal done until after pregnancy. I still say that pain was worse than labor! At least with labor, you get a break between contractions. 

[cameragirl]

My situation was different, as well. I had an abscessed tooth at around 38 weeks. They were able to treat with antibiotics and put off the root canal. The dentist was a jerk though, and wouldn't treat the pain. It was HORRIBLE and I couldn't get any sleep. I called my OB and she sent a script over for pain killers...and said the dentist was an a&$.

The risk with local anesthetics is a slight chance of miscarriage. I would definitely talk to the dentist, and get a second opinion if you need it. If you can put it off it might be better, but I understand how badly that hurts. Do you know if they just need to be pulled or if they'll need to cut into the gum? Getting teeth pulled is not fun, but it is easier than having them dig around in the gums for the roots. Mine had to be cracked in half to get them out because they were below my molars. Ick.

Good luck! Hopefully the dentist can work something out and you'll be out of pain soon.

[onetwoten]

It definately depends on what they're doing the surgery with. I had all four of mine taken out last spring, and a few days afterwards realized there was a slight chance I could be pregnant, so I did a ton of research. 

I had mine out with conscious sedation, I'm totally blanking on the drug names right now, but it was an anti-anxiety sedative and a form of fentanyl. From my research, the ones I specifically took weren't proven to be harmful during pregnancy, but they couldn't totally rule it out either. I don't remember what class that is. The main concern was to do with tooth development, which seemed like an odd problem to me... 

Anyways-- this is all just to echo that it totally depends on what drugs you're using. Also, how high your pain tolerance is for afterwards, as you'll want to be careful with things like T3's, which in my research, seemed to be worse than the drugs I was given during the actual surgery. 

For what it's worth, I am absolutely terrified of dental work, the the sedation was a miracle. I felt like kissing my surgeon afterwards.