Pregnant Women's Perspectives on Integrating Preventive Oral Health in Prenatal Care.

Abstract

Background: Oral diseases are considered a silent epidemic including among pregnant women. Given the prevalence of oral conditions among pregnant women and the reported association with adverse pregnancy outcomes, there have been suggestions for the inclusion of preventive oral care in routine prenatal care. However, due to the different administrative and funding structure for oral health and prenatal care in Canada, progress towards this integration has been slow. Our study sought to qualitatively explore the views of pregnant women in British Columbia (BC) on the strategies for integrating preventive oral health care into prenatal care services.Methods: A qualitative approach was utilized involving semi-structured interviews with fourteen (14) purposefully selected pregnant women in Vancouver and Surrey, BC. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. Study validity was ensured via memoing, field-notes, and member checking.Results: Interviews ranged from 28 to 65 minutes producing over 140 pages of transcripts. Analysis resulted in three major themes: oral health experiences during pregnancy, perspectives on integration and integrated prenatal oral care, and strategies for addressing prenatal oral health care. A majority of participants were supportive of integrating preventive oral care in routine prenatal services, with referrals identified as a critical strategy. Oral health education was recognized as important before, during, and after pregnancy; oral health assessments should therefore be included in the prenatal care checklist. Limited funding was acknowledged as a barrier to oral health care access, which may explain why few participants visited their dentists during pregnancy. Interprofessional education surfaced as a bridge to provide prenatal oral health education.Conclusion: Pregnant women interviewed in this study support the inclusion of educational and preventive oral care during prenatal care, although their views differed on how such inclusion can be achieved in BC. They advocated the establishment of a referral system as an acceptable strategy for providing integrated prenatal oral health care.

COVID-19 Pandemic: An Opportunity for Using Tele-Dentistry for a Better Dental Care

“…Nonetheless, studies showed that to reduce any contact with other people, pregnant women mostly delayed or avoided their routine prenatal care, including dental checkups, which might lead to many maternal and neonatal consequences. 8,9 To minimize the negative outcomes of not receiving dental and oral health care services by patients, and to reduce the professional and ethical concerns of dental health workers, several virtual platforms such as blogs, websites, and web-based and mobile-based health applications have been designed and promoted. 10 These platforms have various potentials, including the provision of different services, raising oral hygiene awareness, history taking, examination, diagnosis, consultation, training, treatment, and follow-up.…”

Assessment of Children's Oral Health-Related Knowledge and Self-Efficacy in Expectant Mothers of Najran, Saudi Arabia

“…It has been concluded by Adeniyi et al that women of British Columbia supported the view that education about oral care should be included in parental visits. However, due to financial problems, only a few women visit their dentists during pregnancy [12]. There is a correlation between a mother's socioeconomic status and education and ECC prevalence [13].…”

Factors influencing adoption of oral health promotion by antenatal care providers in Moyo district, North-Western Uganda

“…Adopting an integrated approach to healthcare would achieve better outcomes for patients with oral diseases and several policy recommendations have been made including the adoption of oral health in all policies, strengthening inter-professional collaboration, and inclusion of oral health in the curriculum for all healthcare professionals [24, 25]. In addition, the WHO global policy for the improvement of oral health showed that the promotion of oral health is a cost-effective strategy to reducing the burden of oral diseases and maintaining oral health and quality of life.…”