Princess Glitterhead, who recently went viral on TikTok for wearing snap-on dentures, says that being pregnant caused her teeth to “rapidly deteriorate” and “break,” but experts aren’t so sure.
Nausea, vomiting, constipation, heartburn, varicose veins … the list of pregnancy side effects is long. No part of her body is apparently immune, even her teeth, and one woman’s story makes people wonder how much damage pregnancy can do to her oral health.
It all started with a woman named Alicia, who prefers to be known as Princess Glitterhead on social media after she went viral on TikTok for giving her followers an honest look at her life with snap-on dentures. . By showing people how she looks with her and without her false teeth, she garnered more than 10 million views in a single video.
Princess Glitterhead recently spoke to Buzzfeed, explaining why she put on snap-on dentures in the first place. “During my pregnancy, my teeth began to deteriorate rapidly, from the inside out,” she told the site. “The two teeth in my eyes broke at the gum line about a week apart.”
She went on to reveal the impact of this on her mental health and self-esteem. “I remember lying in my garden feeling like my life was over,” she said. “She would never be respected. She would never be pretty. My husband could leave me. He married me with perfect teeth and within a year I was missing teeth.”
Princess Glitterhead lived with some of her missing teeth for several years. “I never smiled. I stopped talking. I hid my pain,” she said. “I was terrified of the dentist and I know he would delay treatment at times. At times he would neglect me. I couldn’t anticipate what was happening. I would go get fillings and root canals that would break right away.” She added that when she was 24 and had her second daughter, “a lot more dental problems arose.”
When BuzzFeed shared the story on Instagram, there were many mixed reactions. Some people shared similar stories of tooth decay during pregnancy. “I developed hyperemesis with all my pregnancies,” wrote one person in the comment section. “My smile was once beautiful. Now I have zombie’s teeth. Decayed, chipped and more than half missing.” Another person commented that she just had her first child and, despite having “very good oral hygiene before and during my pregnancy, my teeth became loose and weak.”
But others, namely dentists, stepped in to clear things up, including New York-based general and cosmetic dentist Dmitry Malayev, DDS. “Pregnancy gives way to hormonal changes that can affect the gums more than the teeth themselves, but it has no direct relationship with tooth loss,” he tells Health. Elizabeth Laborde, DDS, a board-certified pediatric dentist, also commented, “Dentist here and mother of 3 – this is incredibly misleading. Pregnancy alone does not cause uncontrollable cavities and leads to the loss of so many teeth that would require dentures. supported by implants. This is an absolutely unreasonable conclusion, “he said.
So what is really going on here? Could pregnancy lead to the cavities and tooth loss that Princess Glitterhead described, or could something else be going on? This is what you need to know.
Are dental issues common in pregnant people?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that between 60 and 75% of pregnant people get gingivitis, an early stage of periodontal disease. “This can cause the gums to bleed and become red and swollen from inflammation, and is caused by changes in progesterone and estrogen levels,” Lisa Creaven, Ireland-based cosmetic dentist and co-founder of Spotlight Oral Care, tells Health. .
If left untreated, gingivitis can get worse enough that the gums become infected, making the tooth more likely to loosen and come out, Meleen Chuang, MD, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and chief medical officer of women’s health at NYU Langone, tells Salud.
According to the March of Dimes, pregnancy can also make your teeth feel looser. That’s due to high levels of the hormones progesterone and estrogen in your body, which can temporarily loosen the tissues and bones that hold your teeth in place, but that doesn’t lead to tooth loss, although it can be alarming.
There is also an increased risk of developing cavities during pregnancy, according to the American Dental Association (ADA). But this is not caused by the pregnancy itself. The ADA says it can be due to a change in eating habits (such as eating more carbohydrates than usual) or morning sickness, which can increase exposure to acid in the mouth. “Increasing the amount of acid in the mouth can wreak havoc on the teeth and damage the enamel on the outside of the tooth,” explains Dr. Creaven. “Unfortunately, the long-term damage is not seen immediately, as it first erodes the enamel on the back of the teeth.”
If you suffer from morning sickness, Dr. Creaven recommends avoiding brushing your teeth immediately after vomiting and instead of rinsing with a fluoride mouthwash to help restore lost enamel.
Other eating habits during pregnancy, such as late-night snacking or chewing ice, can also increase the risk of cavities, reveals Dr. Chuang. “One in four women of childbearing age has cavities that they don’t even know about,” he tells Health. “That is why it is so important to go to the dentist during pregnancy.”
Good oral health habits (brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing once a day) may be neglected during pregnancy. Again, this can happen for a multitude of reasons: morning sickness, sensitive gums, exhaustion, or a more sensitive gag reflex.
So, can teeth fall out and decay because of pregnancy?
According to Dr. Malayev, pregnancy alone is highly unlikely to cause teeth to fall out; the most plausible situation if that happens is that there are other underlying conditions.
With regard to tooth decay specifically, that takes a long time to develop before real damage occurs. “On average, when tooth demineralization (decay) begins, it can take four to six years to penetrate through the enamel (outer layer of the tooth),” says Dr. Malayev. “Once in the inner layer of the tooth, called dentin, it takes one to two years to wreak havoc to the point where the tooth may need extensive treatment or the tooth is lost,” he says.
People lose their teeth for all kinds of reasons, adds Dr. Malayev. Some of the most common causes are poor oral hygiene, poor diet and lifestyle habits (smoking or chewing tobacco), drugs, undiagnosed and/or treated dental disease (periodontal disease or cavities), the inability to see the dentist regularly (neglect or phobia). ) and physical trauma.
“There are many other underlying health problems that can contribute,” says Dr. Malayev. “It is almost never a single reason for tooth loss, especially when all the teeth in the mouth must come out.”
How can you keep your teeth healthy during pregnancy?
Taking care of your teeth is important at all ages and stages, of course. But experts agree that during pregnancy it is even more crucial to be aware of your oral hygiene. “The American Dental Association recommends that pregnant women eat a balanced diet, brush their teeth well with fluoride toothpaste twice a day, and floss every day,” says Dr. Chuang.
And don’t forget those visits to the dentist. “Much data has shown that regular dental visits during pregnancy can prevent gingivitis or tooth-related problems that can be associated with pregnancy,” says Dr. Malayev.
