Cross-sectional survey reveals gaps between oral health awareness and preventive dental practices in pregnant women, highlighting the influence of education and insurance coverage.
Key Points
To assess oral health knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices among pregnant women receiving routine prenatal care and identify associated sociodemographic factors.
Conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional survey between June 2016 and June 2017 among 517 pregnant women attending routine prenatal care or dental services in Guangxi, China.
Used multivariate regression models to evaluate associations between sociodemographic variables and oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
While >90% acknowledged the importance of brushing and 87.2% brushed at least twice daily, only 50.3% knew about pit and fissure sealants, 48.4% knew of fluoride treatments, 17.8% used dental floss, and 9.3% had pre-pregnancy dental check-ups.
Multivariate analysis showed that older age, urban residency, nulliparity, higher education, and dental insurance were significantly associated with better oral health knowledge, attitudes, and practices (all p < 0.05).