Knowledge, attitude and practices of women regarding oral and dental health care during pregnancy

Abstract

Little is known about the role of maternal oral health and its potential impact on the health of pregnant women. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of women regarding oral and dental healthcare during pregnancy. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was adopted for this study. This study was conducted at MCH centers in Minia city (first child health center MCH center and west MCH center). A purposive sample of 300 pregnant women who had not any medical disorder was included in this study. Data were collected through four tools: Structured interviewing questionnaire, Knowledge Questionnaire sheet, women's attitude by the likert scale, and women's self-practices assessment tool, the study revealed that large proportion of pregnant women had poor knowledge, more than half of them had positive attitude about oral health, and more than half of them had poor practice regarding oral health care during pregnancy. The study concluded that there was lack of oral health knowledge and practices related to oral and dental healthcare among pregnant women. The study recommended that health education & awareness and stress on follow up programs should be carried out during pregnancy in order to motivate and educate pregnant women about importance of good oral health; further researches are needed to investigate the effect of bad oral care on pregnancy outcome

Unfavourable beliefs about oral health and safety of dental care during pregnancy: a systematic review

“…One of the most commonly held beliefs during pregnancy was that calcium is absorbed from the teeth by the developing fetus. At least 37% of the participants had this perception in the study of Assery [ 42 ] and the study of Abdalla et al [ 46 ] had the highest proportion of participants with this belief (80%). One qualitative study attributed the uncomfortable tooth sensation to “yeet hay” (internal heat) which could be solved by consuming herbal tea [ 20 ].…”

“…• Pregnancy causes tooth loss/ Pregnant women can lose teeth only because of pregnancy [ 28 , 33 , 39 , 43 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 58 ].…”

“…• Calcium is drawn out of a pregnant woman’s teeth during pregnancy [ 11 , 20 – 23 , 25 , 29 , 30 , 36 , 38 , 42 , 46 , 48 , 59 ].…”