Awareness of Oral Health Care among Pregnant Women During Pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy is a unique phase of women’s life where it is associated with physiological changes.Poor oral hygiene maintenance and inadequate care for oral health have an impact and noticeable postnataleffects on the infants. There is only a minimal knowledge among pregnant women regarding oral health careduring pregnancy.Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 74 pregnant women. As the studywas conducted during the pandemic time, a web-based questionnaire in Google forms was framed. Thequestionnaire was sent through various social media platforms and answers were collected and sent forstatistical analysis.Results: The responses were statistically analysed by SPSS software Version 18.0. Majority of theparticipants lacked knowledge about the facts that pregnancy increases existing dental problems and selfmedications without physician’s prescription during pregnancy are not advisable.Conclusion: Increased hormonal secretion and fetal growth induce several systemic, as well as localphysiologic and physical changes in a pregnant woman. During this period pregnant women should alwaystake good care of her oral and systemic health. This not only improves the mother’s overall health but alsoprevents associated problems in the fetus. Adequate knowledge by creating awareness about oral health andoral hygiene maintenance will prevent pregnant women from dental complications.