What dental problems can be harmful during pregnancy?

I am 23 weeks pregnant, I live in Ca, and I have medi- cal insurance, along with another insurance through my work, my work insurance Anthem blue cross doesn't pay for much for dental and I am maxed out for dental with them right now. Medi-cal on the other hand will pay for extractions, and when I went to the dentists office Saturday I was told that medi-cal will also pay for procedures that can potentially be harmful to a pregnancy. I know that my dentists want to do a deep cleaning on me, and I know that if I don't get this procedure that the bacteria built up can cause preterm labor. I am also wondering if anyone knows what other procedures would be covered and considered possibly harmful to a pregnancy. I have quite a few dental issues, so I would like to get as much as I can covered by medi-cal, other wise with the anthem insurance I have to pay mostly all of all dental procedures, and I owe so much right now that there is no way that I could possibly get any more dental work done unless it is covered by medical, for the next year or so. Thanks for the answers in advance, and God bless you all.
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Honey, this is a subject you should definitely raise with your obstetrician as well as your dentist. Don't trust the opinions of the people on Yahoo Answers. All of them are strangers, and some of them are REALLY strange. lol!! Seriously, you should particularly ask about the effect of anesthetics (like novocaine) on your baby. I don't know the answer for sure, but I would be very hesitant about something like that. (To be fair, it might be okay, since it is just local to your mouth and doesn't affect your whole body, but leave that question to the experts who are responsible for your health care.) I would also be very dubious about any sort of x-ray, unless the shielding is done super-carefully. On the other hand, I think any sort of "mechanical" work, like scraping for cleanings, should be okay. But again, get the advice of your obstetrician first. I know this is not the definite answer you may have been looking for, but I hope it is helpful. Good luck, and congratulations on your baby.
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