Abstract
Introduction: Prenatal oral care is important for both the oral and general health of the woman and the offspring and it should be maintained throughout the life course. Objectives: To determine the distribution of both hospital and community dental care facilities for the provision of oral healthcare to antenatal mothers referred to the maternal and child health (MCH) clinics, in the district of Gampaha, Sri Lanka Methods: All the MCH clinics and all available public dental care facilities were mapped using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, and the minimum referral distance was measured from each MCH clinic to the nearest public dental clinic using the distance-based GIS tools. Results: The referral distance reported from an MCH clinic to a public dental clinic varied between 0- 8.5 km. About 22% (n=37) of the MCH clinics had an in-house or proximate dental facility not more than 1 km away. About 41% (n=69) of MCH clinics had a public dental clinic within a 2.5 km distance, and it increased up to 81% (n=136) when the referral distance expanded up to 5km. The average referral distance for pregnancy oral healthcare in the entire district was 3 km. Conclusions: The study identified service disparities in pregnancy oral healthcare in the district using geo-spatial techniques. It could contribute to future planning of hospital and community based dental clinic locations for antenatal mothers, emphasising the importance of referral distance in improving the dental attendance among pregnant women.
Highlights
Prenatal oral care is important for both the oral and general health of the woman and the offspring and it should be maintained throughout the life course
It could contribute to future planning of hospital and community based dental clinic locations for antenatal mothers, emphasising the importance of referral distance in improving the dental attendance among pregnant women
Oral healthcare during pregnancy is recommended in most of the developed nations [12]
Summary
Prenatal oral care is important for both the oral and general health of the woman and the offspring and it should be maintained throughout the life course. Pregnancy is a physiological condition that place women at increased risk of both oral and systemic health [1]. Gum disease and untreated dental decay are the most common oral health problems experienced by mothers during pregnancy [2,3,4]. The complex physical, physiological, behavioural and emotional changes in women during pregnancy may increase their susceptibility to oral diseases. The risk of dental caries and dental erosion may increase during pregnancy due to changes in diet and oral hygiene practices. Untreated periodontal infections during pregnancy can compromise the mothers' general health and foetal safety. Maternal periodontitis may bring about adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight, pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes if left untreated [6,7]. The likelihood of developing dental caries in young children as a result of maternal untreated dental decay has been established by numerous studies conducted in the recent past [9,10,11]
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