Evaluation of the Dental Care Attendance among Pregnant women in Public Health Facilities in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: A primary goal of public health programs is to restore an expectant mother’s oral health to a disease-free status. Several studies have shown that most pregnant women choose not to seek dental care. This study aimed to determine the dental care attendance among pregnant women in southern Nigeria.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2025 and May 2025, with an interviewer-administered questionnaire in multiple public health facilities, with data from pregnant women who attended their antenatal care in these centers. The questionnaire had three sections, which included - Demographics (age, education, tribe, income, Dental visits during pregnancy), assessment of their oral health status by pre-natal health care providers, and assessment of oral status by dentists during the antenatal visits. Descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviations (SD) were used to present and summarize the data, while frequency and percentages were used to present the categorical data. A chi-squared test was used to identify correlations and differences. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0 for Microsoft Windows was used to analyze the data.

Results: The majority of the participants were in the 26–30-year age group (34.8%) and in the Tertiary Health facilities (78.4%). Most of the pregnant women (83.4%) reported not having dental issues, and 95.3% had not visited the dentist in this study. The level of education, income, and the health facility attended by the pregnant women did not impact them, as there were no significant differences in the associations.

Conclusion: Despite the very high proportion of women attending antenatal clinics, only very few were aware of the need for their dental care during pregnancy as revealed by this study. Hence, oral health care screening should be incorporated and regularly carried out by oral health practitioners among pregnant women across the various tiers of healthcare system.