Oral Health Status on among Pregnant Attending at Health Centers in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Oral health behavior and attitudes of pregnant women in Lao PDR are rarely examined, yet should be considered when designing preventative or therapeutic studies to reduce burden of oral diseases we aimed to understand dental care-seeking behavior, as well as oral heath knowledge and attitudes of oral health among pregnant women in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, was conducted in 3 District Health centers Savannakhet Province Lao PDR lasting for 12 months by using a simple random sampling for select participants, we Included criteria: Pregnant women who attending at the Health centers and without underlying medical disease, we excluded criteria: Private cases and women who seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus, Pregnant women who have diabetes or underlying medical disease, Who do not give consent or uncooperative. The research is composed of two parts: face to face interview and clinical examination. The structure questionnaire was use to assess their knowledge of oral health and appropriate behaviors. To conduct interviews using the structure questionnaire, which include queries about personal history, oral health knowledge and oral health behaviors. The clinical oral examination Patient’s decayed, missing and filled tooth (DMFT) index, plaque index (PI) and community periodontal index (CPI) was determined by using STATA version 12 is used for statistical analysis.

Results: A total of the 323 pregnant women invited to participate in the study. The age ranged from 15 to 45 year, with a mean age of 27.7 years (SD±5.6). The prevalence of dental disease in pregnant women such as tooth decayed, tooth missing and tooth filling. The tooth decayed of pregnant women was (69.9%), tooth missing was (30%) and tooth filling was (6.5%). The mean DMFT were (3.4±3.5), with (2.6±3) decayed teeth, (0.6±1.1) missing teeth, and (0.1±0.5) filled teeth. The oral hygiene status in pregnant women assessed with plaque index (PI). The PI of 270 participants that had plaque on the tooth surface (83.6%). The mean of their PI was (4.44±2.33). The periodontal disease in pregnant women assessed with community periodontal index. Almost (47.7%) of pregnant women presented with calculus, healthy gum was (32.8%). While this was (13%) found that calculus & bleeding. The prevalence of periodontal pockets >6mm was (1.9%), and periodontal pockets 4-5mm was (0.6%). The mean SD of CPI was (1.74±1.59) for the pregnancy.

Conclusion: We found that pregnant women in Savannakhet province experienced more dental caries and gingivitis, had less access to oral health facilities, had medium level of knowledge of healthy oral hygiene, and had poorer oral health practices. Comprehensive oral health screening and treatment during antenatal visit, together with appropriate systematic health education, could a crucial role in improving their oral health during pregnancy and beyond.