Stacey Solomon says pregnancy ‘destroyed’ her teeth and made her afraid to smile

As if being pregnant weren’t stressful enough, with restrictions on what you can eat, morning sickness and of course the thought of pushing a human being out of you – there’s now the added worry of tooth damage.

An old wives tale states that during pregnancy you ‘gain a child but lose a tooth’.

While this isn’t true for all expectant mums, it is the case for others, as reality star Stacey Solomon has recently revealed.

The 28-year-old opened up about how her teeth became incredibly damaged during pregnancy in her latest column for The Sun .

She started by telling her readers that she’s often asked how she keeps her teeth so wonderfully white and her reply might shock you.

"The answer is… they’re not real. I have veneers and my real teeth underneath are like brown pegs," she wrote.

Stacey goes on to reveal that during the first trimester of her second pregnancy she was seeing her dentist more than her midwife.

She said: "All of a sudden I was being drilled into left, right and centre. My teeth turned a funny colour, I had to have some removed as they were so damaged and I was soon full of fillings."

But before then, she had never experienced any problems with her teeth, she hadn’t even had a filling.

She went on to describe how it became difficult for her to eat anything, as any food that was too hot or cold caused ‘excruciating’ pain.

"Even breathing in cold air through my mouth was agony," added the mum-of-two.

Things settled down for Stacey around her fourth month of pregnancy, but she was left with brown, decayed teeth, which lowered her spirits.

"I wasn’t smiling at all," she said. "I was embarrassed and felt really awkward about my teeth."

She now wears veneers, which have helped hide the decay, but do sometimes make her feel self-conscious, as they aren’t her natural teeth and are very white.

Towards the end of her column, she warned others in a similar situation to "really look in the mirror and appreciate how beautiful, your natural, character-filled smile already is", before undergoing any surgery.

What the experts say

Cases like Stacey’s are rare, says Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the Oral Health Foundation.

According to the NHS website , the most common dental problems women may experience during pregnancy are swollen and sore gums, which may bleed.

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Pregnancy – everything you need to know

They added that hormonal changes during pregnancy can make gums more vulnerable to plaque, leading to inflammation and bleeding.

This is called pregnancy gingivitis or gum disease.

Dental care is free during pregnancy and for one year after the due date.

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