43% of Pregnant Women Skip Dental Checkups

When a woman is pregnant, the baby’s health and the ob-gyn always come first. But that often means other appointments are overlooked. In fact, one recent study by Cigna found that 43% of women don’t go for dental checkups while they’re expecting, even though 76% of them admit to problems such as bleeding gums and toothaches.

Hormonal changes during pregnancy will often worsen oral issues such as gingivitis and more serious gum disease. While 63% of women before pregnancy say their oral health is very good or excellent, that number drops to 55% during pregnancy.

 “Dental checkups are so important that most dental benefit plans cover preventative care visits every 6 months with no or low out-of-pocket costs. Some dental benefit plans even have special maternity programs with additional services like extra cleanings or discounts on oral health prescriptions,” said Dr. Miles Hall, Cigna’s chief clinical dental director.

Expecting and new mothers who took advantage of dental maternity programs through their benefits plan had better oral health habits than those who did not participate or did not have a program available to them. These improvements in dental hygiene habits may be why 74% of women who are participating or who have participated in a dental benefit plan maternity program rate their oral health as very good or excellent compared to 55% of pregnant women overall, Cigna says.

Despite the links between oral health and overall wellness, many medical professionals fail to discuss dental care with their patients. While 97% of women saw their general doctor or obstetrician during pregnancy as frequently as directed, only 44% said oral health was mentioned during those visits.

And while only 43% of new mothers have had a dental checkup since giving birth, that rises to 63% for women whose doctors discussed oral health during maternity visits. Postpartum dental visits also are key since dental hygiene habits may slip once the baby arrives, as 36% of new mothers say they brush and floss less frequently than before the baby was born mainly due to a lack of time.

The baby’s oral health should be minded as well. Half of new mothers clean their baby’s gums daily, but that increases to 65% for mothers whose pediatricians discussed the baby’s oral health. Good dental hygiene habits with infants cn prevent conditions such as nursing nursing bottle caries or decay.


About the Author: Dr. Anthony Dailley is a practicing general dentist in Berkeley California. He has been practicing since 1981 and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Cell & Molecular Biology, and obtained his dental degree from the Pacific School of Dentistry. Dr. Dailley also holds a fellowship position with the International Congress of Oral Implantologist (ICOI). Dr. Dailley has also been a founder in a biotech company called NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and was a member of their board of directors from 1997-2014. 

Smokers Have a Higher Risk of Tooth Loss than Non-Smokers

It has been common knowledge for many years that the body’s ability to heal itself and recover from surgery is significantly hindered by the use of tobacco. It is for this reason that surgeons often require patients who need to undergo major surgery quit smoking 6 months prior to their surgery date. But did you know that recent studies have confirmed that regular smokers also have a significantly increased risk of tooth loss too?

According to the Journal of Dental Research the association between smoking and the incidence of tooth loss was stronger in men than women, and also stronger in younger versus older individuals. Researchers found female smokers were 2.5 times more likely to lose their teeth than a nonsmoker, while males smokers were 3.6 times more likely to lose their teeth. These findings were independent of other risk factors such as diabetes, and were based on 23,376 participants in three different age groups.

Most teeth are lost as a result of either severe tooth decay or periodontal disease. It has been common knowledge for many years that smoking is a strong risk factor for periodontal disease, so that may go a long way toward explaining the higher rate of tooth loss in smokers.

The good news is that researchers also found that smoking cessation was consistently associated with a reduction in tooth loss risk, with the risk of tooth loss approaching that of people who have never smoked after 10-20 years of cessation.



About the Author: Dr. Anthony Dailley is a practicing general dentist in Berkeley California. He has been practicing since 1981 and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Cell & Molecular Biology, and obtained his dental degree from the Pacific School of Dentistry. Dr. Dailley also holds a fellowship position with the International Congress of Oral Implantologist (ICOI). Dr. Dailley has also been a founder in a biotech company called NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and was a member of their board of directors from 1997-2014.  

The Risks of Smoking & Your Dental Implants

If you smoke, you are opening your mouth to all kinds of different dangerous oral conditions. And, if you are pursuing treatment with dental implants, your treatment may actually fail because of your habit.

One of the worst possible habits you could have for your teeth is smoking. Not only does smoking have many negative cosmetic effects on your teeth, such as severe tooth discoloration and bad breath, but it can also lead to much more serious problems, which include gum disease, tooth decay, and oral cancer. And, if you are a smoker who is trying to replace any missing teeth with dental implants, your habit could actually prevent your treatment from being a success. Today, Anthony Dailley DDS is blogging from Berkeley, CA to talk about how smoking can affect your dental implant treatment.

Protect Your Dental Implants by Giving Up Smoking

Smoking can actually affect your dental implants ability to heal. During the procedure, an implant fixture is placed in the empty space left behind by your missing tooth. While healing, a process called osseointegration occurs, which works to integrate your implant with the bone in your jaw. This process, however, can be stopped or hindered by inflammation of the tissues around the implant fixture, causing the implant to fail. This is called peri-implantitis and, while it can occur in any dental implant patient, it tends to occur much more frequently in patients who smoke.

It is also much more difficult for dental implants to heal and integrate with the bone in smokers because smoking can slow the circulation of blood in your body, making it much more difficult for your body to naturally heal itself. It is also possible for the nicotine inside of cigarettes to damage the tissues that make up your jaw, teeth, gums, and facial muscles. This damage can result in even more missing teeth for our patients who smoke, further exacerbating their condition. Not only that, but smoking can even increase the rate at which your jawbone deteriorates, which comes with its own threat of missing teeth.

Not only can jawbone deterioration result in even more missing teeth, but it can also have many negative effects on your facial structure. This occurs because our jawbone and teeth play a large part in determining our facial appearance. When your jawbone deteriorates, you are losing the support your face needs to maintain its shape. One symptom of this is that your cheeks may begin to appear hollow, giving your face a “sunken appearance”. It is also common for the skin around your jawline to prematurely wrinkle. As a result of these effects, patients suffering from jawbone deterioration tend to be described as appearing aged or unhealthy.

As you can see, it is very important that you give up smoking before moving forward with your dental implant treatment. While this treatment can be a success for patients who smoke, the rate of failure is simply much higher. For this reason, we highly recommend people who smoke to consider finally putting an end to their smoking days. If you would like to learn more about dental implants and what makes a good candidate for treatment with them, we encourage you to contact us and schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with Dr. Anthony Dailley, today.

About the author: Dr. Anthony Dailley is a practicing general dentist in Berkeley California. He has been practicing since 1981 and graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Cell & Molecular Biology, and obtained his dental degree from the Pacific School of Dentistry. Dr. Dailley also holds a fellowship position with the International Congress of Oral Implantologist (ICOI). Dr. Dailley has also been a founder in a biotech company called NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and was a member of their board of directors from 1997 -2014.