Trends in maternal oral health services at primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundDuring pregnancy, many complex physiological changes and increased levels of pregnancy hormones are associated with adverse oral health and increased prevalence of periodontal disease. Our study aimed to assess the oral health needs of pregnant women and describe the patterns of dental services provided to them before, during, and after pregnancy. Assessing the oral health needs of pregnant women and understanding the patterns of dental services provided to them are important to facilitate efficient utilization of oral health services to promote better health outcomes for the mother and baby.MethodsOur study utilized a cross-sectional design to examine the prevalence of dental problems and use of dental services among a sample of postpartum women who visited primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Jeddah for antenatal care, between 2018 and 2019. A link to a questionnaire adapted from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) was sent to participants via the WhatsApp messaging platform. A total of 1350 postpartum women responded to the online survey. We estimated the prevalence of dental problems among women before and during pregnancy and assessed the association between their dental problems and their respective demographic characteristics. We calculated the prevalence of each dental service received before, during, and after pregnancy and examined the trends in dental services over these three periods. All bivariate associations were tested using Pearson’s chi-squared test.ResultsWe found that significantly fewer women visited a dental clinic during pregnancy (31.0%) compared to pre-pregnancy (38.2%) and post-pregnancy (47.3%). The prevalence of toothache, dental caries, gum disease, and dental extraction need before pregnancy was 45.9%, 57.0%, 27.3%, and 40.0%, respectively. These percentages remained the same during pregnancy, except for the need for dental extraction, which significantly decreased to 35.3%. Check-up dental visits increased significantly to 70.6% during pregnancy compared to pre-pregnancy (51.7%) and post-pregnancy (59.9%).ConclusionIncreasing women’s awareness of the importance and safety of oral healthcare during pregnancy, training dental students and primary healthcare dentists in the practice guidelines for the dental management of pregnant women, and developing and monitoring key performance indicators for maternal oral healthcare are the starting steps for improving the oral health and well-being of women and their children.