Oral and dental care during pregnancy: A survey of knowledge and practice in 380 Iranian gynaecologists

Aim: Pregnancy as a special condition in women's lives requires an optimum level of oral and dental care. Therefore, gynecologists play a key role to persuade pregnant women to seek oral health-care services. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and practice of gynecologists with regard to oral and dental health during pregnancy. Subjects and Methods: The measuring tool was a questionnaire. The validity of the questions was assessed by 12 faculty members working in this field, and then the Content Validity Index was calculated for each question. Questionnaire containing 23 questions; with 18 questions relating to knowledge and 5 questions relating to practice. Four hundred and fifty gynecologists were randomly selected to fill in the questionnaire. Statistical Analysis: The Kolmogorov–Smirnov Spearman and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used. Results: Response rate was 84.4%. The mean knowledge of gynecologists about oral and dental healthcare during pregnancy was 12.35 ± 2.737 out of a total score of 18, which shows that their awareness was at an appropriate level. Average practice of gynecologists with regard to oral and dental healthcare during pregnancy was 3.31 ± 1.256 out of a total score of 5, which is also an appropriate level. There was no significant relationship of age with the knowledge and practice of gynecologists with regard to oral health during pregnancy. There was a significant positive relationship between the year of graduation and knowledge (P = 0.042), though there was no significant relationship between graduation year and practice. Conclusion: The knowledge and practice of Iranian gynecologists with regard to oral and dental healthcare during pregnancy were at an appropriate level.