Pregnant women utilization of dental services: still a challenge in low resource setting

BACKGROUND: Poor oral health in pregnancy can be associated with poor pregnancy outcome, however, dental consultation among pregnant women appears to be low. METHODS: This was a questionnaire-based study of 413 women who attended the antenatal clinic of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu. The information obtained was analyzed using SPSS version 22. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Only 36 (8.7%) of the respondents had dental consultations in index pregnancy for complaints such as tooth ache and decay (66.7%) and pain as well as swelling of the gum (33.3%). The most common reason given for not visiting a dentist during the index pregnancy was the visit not being relevant to their pregnancy outcome (69.2%). After counseling them, only 249 (60.3%) agreed to have dental consultation during subsequent pregnancies. The relationship between visiting the dentist and place of residence (< 0.001), occupation (0.019) and frequency of brushing/ changing of brush (0.005, < 0.001 respectively) were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dental consultation during pregnancy is very low. Pregnant women should be encouraged to have routine dental consultation with oral health counseling and check-up incorporated as part of routine antenatal care.