Oral Health Issues During Pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To find out what oral health issues women face during pregnancy.

Study Design: A cross-sectional observational study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Chiniot General Hospital Korangi Karachi's Dental OPD from November 2019 to July 2020.

Materials and Methods: This study was originally intended to involve 150 pregnant women, however owing to the COVID-19 crisis and the closing of dental OPDs, many pregnant women are unable to get dental check-ups and appointments. Thus, 90 individuals' data was gathered, encompassing all phases of pregnancy, and the outcomes of 90 people were analyzed. Each participant gave their informed consent prior to the start of data collection.

Results: Seven components were examined during the oral examination. The first was the oral hygiene status, which revealed that 24 women (26.7 percent) had good oral hygiene, whereas 66 women had terrible oral hygiene (73.3 percent). Second, 74 (82.2%) pregnant women had gingival bleeding on probing, which was followed by visible plaque in 77 (85.6%) women, caries activity in 83 (92.2%) women, and extra oral edoema in 14 (15.6%) women. Finally, 78 (86.7%) of the women showed gingival edoema, with 35 (38.9) having localized swelling.

Conclusion: The significance of dental care throughout pregnancy, as well as sociodemographic differences in clinical OH during pregnancy, are highlighted in this study, which provides important results for customizing treatments for pregnant women.