Oral Health Status Among Pregnant Women Attending Gynae OPD of Tertiary Care Hospital in Rawalpindi

Abstract

Objective: The objectives of this study were to determine the oral health status and treatment needs using DMFT & CPITN indices in pregnant women attending Gynae OPD of tertiary care Hospital in Rawalpindi. Material and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the oral health status and treatment needs among pregnant women at Tertiary Care Hospital, Rawalpindi from April 2020 to September 2020. Consecutive sampling was used to select the study participants. An adaptive version of the WHO questionnaire was used. Results were presented in the form of frequency tables. Chi-square test of statistics was applied to assess the association between categorical DMFT and CPITN with the sociodemographic characteristics of the participating females. Results: The mean DMFT score for pregnant females was 2.41 + 2.30 and were belonged to a middle socioeconomic status of 43.8% (n=173). About 61.8% (n=244) of participants had a DMFT total score of 1-7. Whereas, the majority of the participants were reported bleeding gums on probing 30.6% (n=121) on an assessment by CPITN. The participating pregnant females also depicted the worsening of periodontal tissues (P=0.00) and dentition status (P=0.02). Socioeconomic status was not significantly associated with dentition (P=0.39) and periodontal status (P=0.69). Conclusion: The study revealed that oral health status deteriorated during pregnancy. Education and gestational period were strong indicators for oral health status among pregnant women. Bleeding gums were reported in the majority of participants during the second trimester of pregnancy. Socioeconomic status was not significantly associated with oral health status by CPITN and DMFT score.