Cleaning and gum treatment are safe at every stage of pregnancy — and if you are pregnant and bleeding, our advice is to treat it at home, not on a flight.
Professional cleaning and treatment of inflamed gums are safe at any stage of pregnancy, and the second trimester is simply the most comfortable time to lie in a chair. Local anaesthetic is used routinely during pregnancy. Routine X-rays are deferred, and taken with shielding only where a diagnosis genuinely depends on them. Elective cosmetic work is postponed. Leaving an infection untreated out of a vague fear of dental care is the greater risk here.
Pregnancy does not cause gum disease, but it strongly exaggerates the response to plaque that is already there. Rising oestrogen and progesterone increase the permeability of the small blood vessels in the gum and shift the bacterial balance inside the pocket, so the same amount of plaque produces far more swelling and bleeding than it did before. It usually begins around the second month, peaks in the third trimester, and settles within a few months of delivery.
A pregnancy epulis, sometimes called a pregnancy tumour, is a soft red overgrowth that appears on the gum between two teeth, bleeds easily and looks far more sinister than it actually is. It is benign, and it usually shrinks after delivery, so it is removed during pregnancy only when it interferes with eating or bleeds persistently. What it does tell you is that the gum underneath is inflamed and cleaning around that area is not working.
If you are pregnant and your gums are bleeding, treat it where you live rather than booking a flight. Periodontal inflammation has been associated with preterm birth and low birthweight, although whether treating it during pregnancy changes those outcomes is not settled — which is an argument for prompt local care, not for a medical trip. Gum treatment starts at €250 here, but a course beginning now near home is worth more than a better price in three months.
Yes, at any stage. Cleaning and treating inflamed gums is recommended rather than merely permitted, and most women find the second trimester the most comfortable time to sit through an appointment.
In most cases it improves within a few months of delivery, provided plaque control is good. Bleeding that persists beyond that point is ordinary gum disease and should be assessed and treated on its own terms.