Special circumstances

The colloquially called ‘blood thinners’ are actually anticoagulants. They prevent thus the formation of blood clots with basic illnesses such as e.g. Arteriosklerose, heart diseases or Thrombosen. A disadvantage of these drugs, however, is the risk of an increased bleeding tendency.

With developing wounds the danger exists to lose too much blood, since the blood clotting, by which a kind of plug is formed around the wound to close, is restrained. To avoid the risk of high blood loss during tooth extraction, blood thinners can be discontinued several days before treatment. As long as the so-called INR value (measure for blood clotting) has been checked beforehand and this value is not higher than 3.5, tooth extraction can be carried out without discontinuing anticoagulants.

For this purpose, a consultation should be held with the treating physician. Of course, toothache can also occur during an existing pregnancy, which requires urgent treatment. In principle, there is nothing to be said against dental treatment during pregnancy, and even the extraction of a tooth does not pose a danger to the unborn child.

However, it is particularly important that the dentist in charge of the treatment is informed about the existing pregnancy and can adapt the necessary treatment measures accordingly. There are some things that need to be considered during the visit to the dentist. First of all, only those anaesthetics that do not pose a danger to the child and/or the mother should be used before the tooth is extracted.

On the other hand, it is absolutely necessary to avoid taking X-rays, because the radiation used can damage the genome of the unborn child, especially at the beginning of pregnancy, and can lead to disabilities in the child. However, a single X-ray will not cause this, but any radiation exposure that is not absolutely necessary should be avoided. The higher the radiation exposure during pregnancy, the higher the risk for the unborn child.

In addition, it is also important to expose the expectant mother to as little stress as possible when visiting the dentist during an existing pregnancy. For many people, the dentist causes certain fears and worries from the outset and especially the announcement of a necessary tooth removal can put the patient under stress. For this reason, the dentist will take a lot of time, especially for expectant mothers, to discuss all steps of the treatment in advance, answer questions, try to take away existing fears and act very carefully.

Pulling a tooth during pregnancy is therefore not a danger. If you are planning to have a child, it is generally recommended to have the entire dentition, gums and periodontium examined by a dentist. The necessary dental treatments can then be carried out before pregnancy.