Oral health condition and the perception about dental care of pregnant women

• Autor(a) principal: de Oliveira Cunha, Rafaela
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Gonçalves Leite, Isabel Cristina
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: HU Revista (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufjf.br/index.php/hurevista/article/view/32463
• topic: Saúde Bucal; Cuidado Pré-Natal; Gestantes; Oral Health; Prenatal Care; Pregnant Women

Introduction: Pregnancy is a systemic condition that involves complex physiological and psychological changes. This period can also involve a variety of oral changes, influenced by hormonal and behavioral changes. Despite of dental care during prenatal care be recommended by Ministry of Health guidelines as an integral part of care during pregnancy, the demand for dental services is still low among pregnant women. Objective: To identify and analyze, through a quantitative-qualitative investigation, determinants of dental care during pregnancy through subjective data related to the perception of oral health of pregnant women, as well as their oral health condition. Material and Methods: 11 pregnant women with prenatal care initiated in the Unified Health System participated in the study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and oral clinical exams. The quantitative analysis was performed by distributing of the tabulated data frequencies and the qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis proposed by Bardin. Results: The CPO-D index of pregnant women was 7.8, revealing a high prevalence of caries. Regarding periodontal condition, 81.8% presented gingival bleeding on probing and 36.4% presence of periodontal pockets. The high costs of dental treatment, fear, popular beliefs and the lack of information from pregnant women about dental care during pregnancy were identified as barriers to dental treatment during pregnancy. Conclusion: The results showed that, although pregnant women need dental treatment and recognize this fact, there are barriers that hinder their adherence to dental care. Among these, the lack of information from pregnant women about the need for dental treatment in this period of life was the greatest barrier identified.