Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to report the oral health status, practices, knowledge and periodontal status of pregnant women in a maternity hospital in Trinidad.

Methods: A convenience sample of pregnant women who attended a maternity hospital was recruited. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire which included frequency and reason for dental attendance, perceived oral health status and oral health knowledge and practices. Oral health examinations took place at the University of the West Indies (UWI), School of Dentistry including the Basic Periodontal Examination (BPE). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24.0 in which descriptive analysis and Chi-square tests were performed.

Results: 161 pregnant women participated. Nearly 60% rated their oral health as average or good. Almost half (46.0%) stated safety concerns with dental treatment during pregnancy prevented them from seeking care and 73.3% did not believe that a mother’s poor oral health could contribute to low birth weight (LBW) babies. The majority (91.9%) did not attend the dentist routinely and nearly 60% had some form of periodontitis, mild (34.2%) or moderate to severe (25.2%). Significant associations were found between level of education and brushing (p < 0.05), age and smoking (p < 0.05), BPE and age (p < 0.05) and BPE and ethnicity (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: There are important gaps and misconceptions in oral health knowledge and practices of pregnant women and the prevalence of periodontitis was found to be high and related to age and ethnicity.

Keywords: Pregnancy; Oral Health; Periodontal Health; Women; BPE

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Citation

Citation: Reisha Rafeek., et al. “The Perceived Oral Health Status, Practices, Knowledge and Periodontal Status of Pregnant Women in a Maternity Hospital in Trinidad". Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 4.11 (2020): 74-83.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Reisha Rafeek., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.