The Path to a Healthy Pregnancy Starts in Your Mouth
If you’re preparing for pregnancy, you’re probably already focusing on diet, exercise, and stress management. But here’s what most people don’t realize—your oral health plays a massive role in fertility, pregnancy health, and even your baby’s future.
Both mom- and dad-to-be need to ensure their mouths are free from inflammation, pathogens, and toxins, as these can interfere with conception, implantation, and even fetal development. If you’re spending thousands on fertility treatments but haven’t looked at what’s happening in your mouth, you may be missing a key piece of the puzzle.
The good news? Even small shifts can make a huge impact. Here’s what you can do now to optimize your oral health for a successful pregnancy.
Step 1: Address the Toxic Burden in Your Mouth
Before pregnancy, it’s crucial to eliminate inflammation and reduce toxic load. You don’t want bacteria, heavy metals, or gum disease working against your fertility or your baby’s health.
What to Do Now:
✅ Book a wellness exam with a biological dentist to check for inflammation, pathogens, decay, and toxic fillings.
✅ Get a salivary test to assess your oral microbiome. Certain bacteria, parasites, and viruses can increase the risk of miscarriage, implantation failure, and preterm labor.
✅ Treat any existing gum disease, cavities, or infections—they won’t improve on their own, and pregnancy can make them worse.
✅ If you have mercury fillings, replace them before pregnancy. Mercury crosses the placenta and is transmitted through breast milk. However, removing them during pregnancy or while nursing is not safe. Get it done now if there’s any chance they could break or need treatment soon.
✅ Support your oral microbiome with probiotics – Your mouth (and your baby’s) needs a balance of good bacteria to stay healthy. Consider an oral probiotic like Burst, StellaLife, or Probiora. Bonus points? Pet probiotics. Our pets’ mouths impact our microbiome, so keeping them healthy means better health for you, too. Try Probiora for Dogs or Probiora for Cats.
🚨 Red flags that you need treatment before pregnancy:
Bleeding gums (this means inflammation, even if they "always bleed")
Cavities or weak teeth (they get worse with pregnancy)
Metal fillings or past root canals (may need to be evaluated for safety)
Chronic bad breath (often a sign of hidden infection or gut dysbiosis)
👉 Not sure where to start? A biological dentist will guide you.
Step 2: Strengthen Your Teeth, Gums & Immune System
A strong body starts with a strong foundation—and that includes your teeth and gums. Pregnancy is mineral-demanding, and if your body doesn’t have enough, your baby will pull it from your teeth and bones.
What to Do Now:
✅ Dial in your nutrition & optimize Vitamin D – Test your Vitamin D levels (70-100 is optimal) (Test Here).
✅ Eat more minerals – Calcium (leafy greens, almonds), Magnesium (dark chocolate, seeds), Phosphorus (grass-fed meat, eggs).
✅ Support gum & tooth health with key vitamins – Vitamin K2 (grass-fed butter, organ meats), Vitamin C (citrus, bell peppers), Omega-3s (wild fish, flaxseeds).
✅ Ditch fluoride, use hydroxyapatite instead – Fluoride is neurotoxic and impacts thyroid function. Swap it for Risewell, Dentalcidin, or Supermouth.
✅ Prioritize gut health – Your gut and oral microbiomes are deeply connected. A holistic nutritionist can help you balance both to improve fertility, digestion, and overall health.
🔹 Flossing daily? Let’s be real. If that’s not happening, a water flosser is your best friend. Try the Burst Water Flosser to reduce plaque, bacteria, and inflammation without the hassle.
🔹 Supplements fill the gaps. If your diet isn’t perfect (whose is?), consider supplementing Vitamin D, K2, magnesium, and collagen to support enamel, bone strength, and immune function.
Step 3: Optimize Airway Health & Sleep
Most people don’t connect breathing & sleep with fertility, but they should. If you or your partner snore, toss and turn, or wake up exhausted, you may have airway resistance or sleep apnea, which can wreck hormone balance, increase inflammation, and impact conception.
What to Do Now:
✅ Get a sleep study if you or your partner:
Snore or stop breathing while sleeping
Wake up multiple times at night (to pee or just... awake)
Feel foggy, anxious, or need coffee to function
Have high blood pressure or a history of ADHD symptoms
An airway-focused dentist can help you get a take-home sleep study or refer you to a lab.
✅ Strengthen breathing & sleep naturally:
Myofunctional therapy – Helps train the tongue & muscles for better breathing (reduces reflux, too!). A biological dentist would typically refer you to a specialist.
Oral appliances – A temporary or long-term solution for sleep-disordered breathing.
Breathwork – Not only great for stress, but hugely beneficial during labor & delivery.
Final Thoughts: Small Changes, Big Impact
Prepping for pregnancy doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Start where you can. Even simple shifts—cleaning up your oral care routine, getting enough Vitamin D, addressing gum health, or fixing sleep issues—can move the needle in your fertility journey.
If you’re putting time, energy, and money into getting pregnant, don’t overlook your mouth. It’s one of the biggest influences on your ability to conceive, carry, and nurture a healthy baby.
👉 Book your New Patient Experience or a consult with us to get started.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission if you purchase through them. We only recommend products we trust and use in our practice.