The aim of the present study was to assess oral health literacy (OHL) in pregnant women and its association with social determinants and knowledge regarding eating habits and oral hygiene in infants. This cross-sectional study assessed 175 pregnant women in a hospital in southern Brazil. Socioeconomic and demographic data were obtained using a questionnaire, and OHL was determined by the Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30). Eating habits and oral hygiene knowledge were assessed by statements on a 3-point Likert scale. The data were analyzed using Spearman correlations and the Mann-Whitney U test (α = 0.05). The mean (SD) age was 26.2 (6.17) years. Most of the participants had up to 8 years of education (60.0 %) and belonged to socioeconomic class "C" or lower (56.0 %). The mean (SD) score on the BREALD-30 was 22.4 (4.66). A positive correlation was found between BREALD-30 scores and knowledge (r s  = 0.370, p < 0.001), income (r s  = 0.374, p < 0.001), and the age at which infants first consumed sugar in their diets (r s  = 0.370, p < 0.001). A negative correlation was found between BREALD-30 scores and domicile agglomeration (r s  = -0.237, p = 0.020). BREALD-30 scores were higher among pregnant women who had more than 8 years of education (p < 0.001), who belonged to higher socioeconomic classes (p < 0.001), and who were employed (p = 0.025). A significant correlation was found between OHL and knowledge. Lower social determinants were associated with lower OHL. Oral health literacy should be considered in health education practices to facilitate adherence to health recommendations in pregnant women.

The objective of this study was to describe an interviewer training and calibration method to evaluate oral health literacy using the Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) in epidemiological studies. An experienced researcher (gold standard) conducted all training sessions. The interviewer training and calibration sessions included three different phases: theoretical training, practical training, and calibration. In the calibration phase, six interviewers (dentists) independently assessed 15 videos of individuals who had different levels of oral health literacy. Accuracy and reproducibility were evaluated using the kappa coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The percentage of agreement for each word in the instrument was also calculated. After training, the kappa values were higher than 0.911 and 0.893 for intra-and inter-rater agreement, respectively. When the results were analyzed separately for the different levels of literacy, the lowest agreement rate was found when evaluating the videos of individuals with low literacy (K = 0.871), but still within the range considered to be near-perfect agreement. The ICC values were higher than 0.990 and 0.975 for intra-and inter-rater agreement, respectively. The lowest percentage of agreement was 86.6% for the word "hipoplasia" (hypoplasia). This interviewer training and calibration method proved to be feasible and effective. Therefore, it can be used as a methodological tool in studies assessing oral health literacy using the BREALD-30.

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The aim of the present study was to analyze the intentions and knowledge of mothers in the postpartum period regarding the feeding habits and oral health of their children. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 286 mothers at a teaching hospital in Southern Brazil. The variables of interest were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Knowledge scores were analyzed numerically and dichotomized as adequate (score: >5) or poor (score: ≤5). Bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses were performed and score ratios (SR) with respective confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Most respondents were less than 25 years of age (55.6%), first-time mothers (56.4%) and demonstrated positive intentions regarding the majority of the aspects addressed. However, 65.4% of the sample demonstrated poor knowledge. Younger mothers, those with a lower income, those with less schooling, first-timers and those who reported intending to use sugar demonstrated less knowledge. Gathering information from the internet was associated with higher knowledge. The multivariate model revealed significant associations with having a university education (SR=1.23; CI: 1.12 to 1.35), having a high school education (SR=1.10; CI: 1.03 to 1.19), gathering information from the internet (SR=1.18; CI: 1.07 to 1.30), having given birth more than once (SR=1.13; CI: 1.06 to 1.21) and intending not to use sugar (SR=1.14; CI: 1.03 to 1.26). Schooling, number of child births, means of information and the use of sugar were independently associated with the knowledge score. There is a need to provide oral health education for women during the postpartum period in order to benefit oral health for both the mother and the baby.