Certain conditions may have an affect on gingival status and may aggravate pre-existing disease, especially in persons with poor oral hygiene. Pregnancy is one of these conditions. In addition, there is evidence in the literature suggesting an association between periodontal diseases in pregnant women and giving birth to premature, low-birth infants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of periodontal health knowledge, and awareness, among pregnant women in Jordan. This was carried out by cross-sectional survey using self-administered, structured questionnaires distributed at six maternity care centres in Irbid City. Questionnaire items addressed personal and socio-demographic variables and periodontal health awareness and knowledge of pregnant women. Women (n = 300) were randomly chosen from attendants to these centres. Of the 300 questionnaires distributed, only 275 pregnant women ages 16-45 years with a mean of 29 year responded and were included in the study. Data were analysed by chi-squared test with the level of significance set at (P < 0.05). About one-third of the participants had secondary level of education; it appeared that a minority of the pregnant women had knowledge or ability to identify dental plaque (16.4%) and its harmful effects (22.5%), while most of them (88%) were aware that bleeding gums indicated the presence of periodontal disease. The differences in the responses to knowledge questions were only significant for question number one (What is plaque?) among different educational levels and groups. This study revealed that (71.6%) of the pregnant women knew the main cause of gum disease; however 56% of them do not believe that frequency of teeth brushing should be increased during pregnancy and only 5.1% believed there might be a relationship between gum diseases and premature labour. Knowledge and awareness for pregnant women about their teeth and gingival condition is generally poor. Pregnant women need accurate information about their teeth and oral health. Simple educational preventive programmes on oral self-care and disease prevention before and during pregnancy should be provided to improve oral health.

This longitudinal study aimed at testing the efficacy of a school-based caries preventive program, by comparing dental caries status of two groups, a study group (436 children) and a control group (420 children) over a period of 4 years. The study group received a preventive program which consisted of intensive oral hygiene instructions sessions, and supervised daily tooth brushing using fluoridated tooth paste in schools. The control group received only oral hygiene instructions sessions. Annual dental examination to record dental caries status, using Decayed Missed Filled Teeth Index (DMFT) and deft, was conducted for both groups over a period of 4 years. At the end of the fourth year the efficacy of the program was tested by comparing the DMFT and deft indices for the two groups using Pearson chi-square test and Cochran-Mantel-Haenzele test. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. The results after 4 years showed that the caries status of the children in the study group was better than that of the control group. The difference was statistically significant (P-value 0.001). The estimates of relative risk values also showed that children in the control group are 3.1 and 6.4 times at higher risk of having dental caries than those in the study group for age group 12 and 6 respectively. This study proves that supervised daily tooth brushing using fluoridated toothpaste is successful in controlling dental caries in children.