Oral health during pregnancy

Short Description
dontal health: oral contraceptives and pregnancy. Women Health. 1993;20:21-30. … Mangskau KA, Arrindell B. Pregnancy and oral health: utiliza- …

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Content
Background. Little is known about the
use of dental services during
pregnancy. Yet research
suggests that a pregnant
woman’s oral health and
her pregnancy outcome
may be associated.
Methods. Four states
collected oral health data as
part of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment
Monitoring System, or PRAMS, in 1998.
PRAMS is an ongoing, population-based
survey designed to obtain information from
mothers who recently delivered live-born
infants about their experiences and behaviors
before, during and immediately after
pregnancy.
Results. Reports of dental care use
during pregnancy ranged from 22.7 to 34.7
percent. In three states, 12.2 percent to 25.4
percent of respondents reported having a
dental problem and of these, 44.7 percent to
54.9 percent went for care. Among mothers
reporting a dental problem, prenatal care,
or PNC, insurance through public funding
and late PNC entry were significantly associated
with their not getting dental care.
Conclusions. Most mothers did not go
for dental care during their pregnancy;
among those who reported having problems,
one-half did not get dental care.
Practice Implications. Attention
toward the oral health needs of pregnant
women is warranted. A coordinated effort
from the dental and obstetric communities to
establish guidelines could benefit maternal
oral health…