No, if you don't get enough calcium during pregnancy, your body doesn't take calcium from your teeth. This myth may have come about because many women who previously had healthy teeth and gums, during pregnancy, they may notice that their gums become swollen, inflamed or bleed. Sometimes, you will hear this condition called "pregnancy gingivitis." It is the result of changing hormone levels including increased amounts of progesterone and may appear as early as the first trimester. Since pregnancy tends to influence periodontal status, and considering the potential reported relation between periodontal disease and pregnancy complications, careful periodontal diagnosis and treatment before as well as during pregnancy is warranted. A lot of studies are documented by the NCBI, National Center for Biotechnology Information on pregnancy and birth and gum disease.There is a need to educate healthcare personnel further about oral health and pregnancy outcomes in other countries, as well as, the United States. Healthcare personnel should be informed on how diseases in the mouth, during pregnancy, can relate to the rest of the body. A study done in October of 2008 was done to investigate whether or not it is possible to decrease the chance of preterm birth and low birth-weight in the case of healthy non-smoking women through the elimination of periodontal inflammation by providing professional oral hygiene treatment during pregnancy. It was found that the periodontal treatment might have contributed to a more optimal date of delivery and to achieving a larger birth-weight.
There is, however, a disagreement between periodontal disease and low birth rate. One study showed that there is an association between periodontal disease and prematurity/low birth rate and another finding showed no association between periodontal status and prematurity/low birth weight. Another pregnancy study done in 2007, indicates that problems with wisdom teeth and bone disease progression during pregnancy.
RECOMMENDED READING
Perinatal Calcium
Pregnancy Nutrition: Action Steps to Ensure a Healthy Baby!
A review of maternal and fetal calcium homeostasis and vitamin D metabolism
Calcium Nutriture for Mothers and Children (Carnation Nutrition Education Series, Vol 3)
This study you are referring to in your last paragraph is a very important study linking dentistry to the medical field. There have been numerous studies done to determine whether maternal periodontal disease contributes to the risk for prematurity and growth restriction in the presence of traditional obstetric risk factors. In order to fully perform this study, you need to select pregnant woman with a form of periodontal disease. This is not that easy to do, since twenty year olds do not have periodontal disease. Thirty-five year old woman may have periodontal disease. That means you have to find pregnant thirty-five year old women with periodontal disease. The age of the women is very important. Any of these studies that do not confirm that that periodontal disease is associated with premature of low birth weight have probably selected woman that are not of age to have periodontal disease and be pregnant.
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