Health SOS
The best health advice for you and your family
Dentists were at a loss as to what was causing my unusual pregnancy symptom…
From Lauren Day, 32, of Bournemouth, Dorset
As Ichewed on a piece of toast, I felt something hard swirling around my mouth.
I fished it out and gasped.
‘My tooth’s just fallen out!’ I said to my husband Dino.
I was six months pregnant, and seeing my tooth in my hand was alarming. But after some research, we discovered pregnancy hormones could cause tooth loss.
It was a back tooth, so I wasn’t too worried. However, a month later, another tooth fell out.
When I lost a third, I saw the dentist.
‘You haven’t been looking after your teeth,’ he said, examining me. ‘What?’ I spluttered. I brushed my teeth five times a day! Over the next four years,
I lost around 10 teeth. My confidence was in tatters, and I barely left the house.
I saw other dentists, who said I had weak tooth enamel, or that acid from my pregnancy sickness had caused my tooth loss.
My son — now four — asked me why my teeth were black, which I found upsetting. Sometimes, the pain and infections were so bad, I’d sit awake at night crying.
In the end, another dentist told me: ‘The only way to stop the pain is to remove all your teeth.’
‘But I’m only 31!’ I cried in disbelief. It was
