Nigerian dentists and oral health-care of pregnant women: Knowledge, attitude and belief

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women seek preventive, interventional and rehabilitative oral health-care for their oral health and protection of their fetus and babies after delivery. The objective of the study was to determine the Nigerian Dentist's knowledge, attitude and belief pertaining to the oral health-care of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional of Nigerian dentist was conducted between June and December, 2011 using Huebner et al., modified dentist's attitude to the pregnant women questionnaire Results: The overall response rate of 92.5% (149/160). Receipt of continuing medical education (CME) was reported among the participants on periodontal disease of pregnant patients (22.1%), oral hygiene of pregnant patients (20.1%), early childhood caries (35.6%) and general dental problem (51.0%). The majority (92.6%) agreed that Dentists have the skill to counsel pregnant patients, But only 73.8% of them provided oral hygiene instruction frequently to pregnant patients and even fewer (6.0%) were involved in educational advice on oral health for young women. Many of the participants agreed that counseling pregnant patients about periodontal disease and its effect on the developing baby is of utmost importance. Participants also dominantly agreed that dental treatment should be part of prenatal care and 97.3% of them opined that physician recommendation will increase the likelihood of pregnant seeking dental care. More than half (56.4%) of the participants reported that Dentists should be concerned about being sued if something goes wrong with the pregnancy. The recommended ways to improve oral health-care of pregnant women among the participants were through CME (92.6%), provision of educational materials on oral health-care of pregnant women (93.3%) and information on ways to counsel pregnant women (98.0%). Conclusion: Data from this study revealed high preparedness, positive attitude and favorable disposition in dental care provision for pregnant women among the studied Nigerian Dentists.