Prenatal Oral Health Education in U.S. Dental Schools and Obstetrics and Gynecology Residencies

Abstract

Prenatal oral health (POH) is an important health issue, but dental and obstetrical clinicians are not meeting the oral health needs of pregnant patients. This study evaluates how training contributes to this paradox with a national survey of sixty dental school deans and 240 obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors. Response rates were 53 percent and 40 percent for deans and program directors, respectively. According to the respondents, 94 percent of responding dental schools provided POH education, only 39 percent of responding residencies taught POH, and 65 percent of responding deans and 45 percent of responding program directors were aware of current POH guidelines. The residencies exposing trainees to guidelines were three times more likely to have POH training. Barriers to POH education were reported to include too few pregnant patients in clinical settings (for responding dental schools) and lack of faculty expertise (for responding residencies). The majority of responding deans and program directors agreed they would add more POH education if the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a policy statement or practice bulletin. The majority of responding dental deans reported teaching POH in their schools, but clinical exposure was limited; less than half of responding residencies included POH training. Future efforts should include distribution of POH guidelines/consensus statements to educators and learners, increasing exposure of dental students to pregnant patients, and developing faculty expertise in residencies.Dr. Curtis is a family medicine resident, Swedish Family Medicine Residency First Hill, Seattle, WA; Dr. Silk is Clinical Associate Professor,

Number of Pregnant Women at Four Dental Clinics and the Care They Received: A Dental Quality eMeasure Evaluation

“…Nationally, the pregnancy rate for women aged 15‐44 years is 102.1 per 1,000 (10.2%) 21 . Our study mirrors the small number of pregnant women seeking dental care found in a survey of 31 U.S. dental schools published in 2013 22 . In that study, Curtis et al discussed the need for health professionals to recognize the importance of prenatal oral health programs; however, they also found that less than 50% of dental students in the study were exposed to evidence‐based guidelines on the treatment of pregnant women.…”

“…With 6.2 million pregnancies in the U.S. in 2010, the limited use of dental services by pregnant women is a public health problem because of the increased risk for periodontal conditions during pregnancy 23 and the potential transmission of cariogenic bacteria present in the mother's mouth to the newborn via sharing utensils 24 . The inadequate prenatal oral health training received in dental school does little to address the oral health disparities of this vulnerable population 22 …”

Oral Health Training in Osteopathic Medical Schools: Results of a National Survey

“…A 19-item survey was created based on a 2011 survey 26 and additional relevant literature. [28][29][30] The survey dichotomized for bivariate analyses to responses of "strongly agree" and "agree" vs "neutral," "disagree,"…”

Effectiveness of an oral health education program for obstetrician/gynecologist residents at Tufts Medical Center

“…[ 12 ] In another study done by Curtis et al ., in 2013, most of the deans and dental program directors reported limited clinical exposure to prenatal oral health during residency. [ 13 ]…”