“Where does the saying ‘Lose a tooth for every pregnancy’ originate?”, I asked my dentist as I sat in the chair yesterday. My mind was focused on pregnancy. No – I’m not pregnant! But I was in the middle of writing a story for Healthy Food Guide magazine.

“It’s not a lack of calcium, as some people think”, he explained. “It’s the pregnancy hormones going haywire. They change the type of bacteria in the mouth – and make the gums more sensitive to them!”

These pregnancy bacteria increase the risk of gingivitis and ultimately periodontitis – the clinical name for gum disease. If it’s not treated, your teeth could fall out!

And just to scare you some more, it seems that pregnant women with gum disease are more likely to have a low birth weight baby.

Then there’s the frequent snacking and cravings – especially if it’s for sweet stuff like double chocolate ice-cream or Pepsi at 3am. And that lovely (not) ‘morning’ sickness. I’ve never met anyone where the nausea and vomiting only arrived in the morning – it’s usually all day and night. Vomiting up all that stomach acid does your teeth no favours. It’s the same for reflux – a common problem at the end of pregnancy when the baby squashes your stomach, there’s less room for dinner, and the acid is pushed back up to your mouth.

Here’s some warning signs of gum disease:

Your gums are tender and swollen
Your gums bleed when you brush or floss
You have persistent bad breath or a bad taste in your mouth

But it’s not all bad news. If you brush and floss daily, and visit the dentist for a check-up and clean, you will have healthy teeth, your husband will want to kiss you and you’ll likely have a big healthy baby!