Can You Get Dental Implants While Pregnant?

When you’re expecting, you tend to question everything before you do it. You carefully consider everything you eat and drink, your exercise routine, even your dental care. Should you change anything about your dental care because you’re pregnant?

In most cases you can carry on with regular dental care as you would have before you were pregnant. However, when it comes to elective dental procedures, there may be some reasons to carefully consider the necessity before going through with it during this time.

It is considered safe to undergo a dental implant procedure after your first trimester. But if there isn’t an urgent need to have an implant placed, it may be better to wait until after your delivery.

What are the possible risks?

• X-Rays. Part of the preparation for receiving a dental implant involves getting X-Ray images of your mouth to evaluate bone density, position of teeth, and other important pieces of information. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists deems dental X-Rays safe during pregnancy. But if an unborn baby were to be exposed to even the small amount of radiation used during dental X-Rays, there are risks. The safest possible option is to avoid the risk altogether.
• Anesthesia. Local anesthesia, such as that which is used during a cavity filling, is safe during pregnancy. However, general anesthesia may not be, as it puts you to sleep. The placement of a dental implant requires oral surgery when the implant root is placed in the jaw bone. It can usually be done with local anesthesia, but some dentists recommend general anesthesia, especially if a patient is particularly nervous about the procedure.
• Stress. If the idea of getting a dental implant makes you nervous or anxious, it would be best to postpone it until you are no longer pregnant. Undue stress while you are pregnant is not worth the risk. High levels of stress can cause gestational hypertension, which can have negative effects on your unborn baby.

It’s not only safe, but also important to keep up with your regularly scheduled teeth cleaning. You can skip the X-Rays if you’re due for those, even though the amount of radiation is within the safe range and you’d be wearing a safety drape. But feel free to postpone that portion until next time. Pregnancy does increase the risk of tooth decay, so having your teeth professionally cleaned is important.

If you have a tooth that is severely decayed and is causing you pain, you may need to have it extracted. If it is a back tooth that is not highly visible, you can probably wait until after you have your baby to have it replaced. However, if it is a front tooth, you may want to have it replaced with an implant immediately. As long as you are in your second trimester or beyond, it would be safe for you to have a dental implant placed under local anesthesia.

If you do happen to need a dental implant while you’re pregnant, Meridian Dental Group can perform the procedure safely. Using guided implant placement software, we are able to carefully direct the exact location, depth, and angle of the implant so that your procedure is as safe and efficient as possible. This technique minimizes risk and streamlines the process so that your time in the chair is shorter. 

Call 212-813-0850 today to schedule a consultation or request an appointment. We look forward to performing your dental implant procedure in the safest, most comfortable way possible.