The knowledge of oral hygiene and oral hygiene habits during pregnancy and puerperium

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. We wanted to explore the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women and women after giving birth to oral health. Likewise, we wanted to determine whether there was any awareness of oral hygiene during pregnancy in the aforementioned population. Our aim was to establish the correlation between oral hygiene habits in relation to age, level of education and place of residence (urban / rural) and to determine the importance of the role of experts in further education of the patient. STUDY DESIGN. A cross-sectional study. PATIENTS AND METHODS. The subjects were patients admitted to the department of maternal and puerpera in the maternity ward of the General Hospital Zabok and Croatian veterans in the period from 1 December 2016 till 15 February 2017. Data for statistical analysis were obtained on the basis of an anonymous questionnaire of 15 questions. RESULTS. Nearly half of pregnant women and women after delivery (49%) believe that oral hygiene does not affect the outcome of pregnancy. In Planned Parenthood pregnancy 70% of women with the lowest levels of education are not going to control dental examinations. Over 90% of highly educated respondents used additional oral hygiene products, while only 20% of women with low levels of education used additional products. The results showed that 71% of women thought they had not received enough oral health information from their doctor. Also, in 60% of respondents, primary data on oral hygiene and health were not received by health professionals but from other sources. CONCLUSION. The obtained data show that almost half of the respondents did not develop the habit of awareness of the need for oral hygiene. The prevalence of monitoring the level of education but are weaker indicators correlate with low skill levels. The emphasis of the modern approach to the prevention of, and given that over half of the surveyed women does not the necessary knowledge of oral health opens space for continuing education and the promotion of information programs by the health system.