Pregnant Women Utilization of Dental Services: Still a Challenge in Low Resource Setting

Abstract

Background: Poor oral health in pregnancy can be associated with poor pregnancy outcome, however, dental consultation among pregnant women appears to be low.Results: Only 36 (8.7%) of the respondents had dental consultations in index pregnancy for complaints such as tooth ache and decay (66.7%) and pains and swelling of the gum (33.3%). The commonest reason given for not visiting a dentist during the index pregnancy was the visit not being relevant to their pregnancy outcome (69.2%). After counseling them, only 249 (60.3%) agreed to have dental consultation during subsequent pregnancies. The relationship between visiting the dentist and place of residence (<0.001), occupation (0.019) and frequency of brushing/ changing of brush (0.005, <0.001 respectively) were statistically significant.Conclusion: The prevalence of dental consultations during pregnancy is very low. Pregnant women should be encouraged to have routine dental consultations with oral health counseling and check-up incorporated as part of routine antenatal care.