Effects of an Oral Health Management Program During Pregnancy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective To evaluate the effects of a Health Belief Model‐based oral health management program on self‐efficacy, oral health behaviors, and three periodontal clinical indicators among pregnant women. Study Design A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 65 participants randomly allocated to the intervention ( n = 39) and control ( n = 26) groups. The intervention included one face‐to‐face education, three video calls, two online lectures, and regular follow‐up supervision in 1 month, while the control group received one face‐to‐face education. Self‐efficacy for oral self‐care, three periodontal clinical indicators, and oral health behaviors were measured at baseline (T 0 ), post‐intervention (T 1 ), and 2‐month follow‐up (T 2 ). Results The total and three domains' scores on the Self‐efficacy Scale for Self‐care in the intervention group increased appreciably ( p < 0.001). Oral health behaviors among the intervention group exhibited more remarkable improvement than the control group did at the two post‐baseline times (all p < 0.05). The intervention group showed significantly higher scores in gingival index ( p = 0.021) and plaque index ( p = 0.001) than the control group at T 1 , while only plaque index scores were significantly different between the two groups at T 2 ( p < 0.001). Conclusion The findings demonstrated an effective educational strategy to promote self‐efficacy, oral health behaviors, and oral health status in pregnant women.