Oral Health in Pregnant Chinese Women in Singapore: A Call to Go beyond the Traditional Clinical Care

Abstract

Objective: To examine the correlations among oral health knowledge, attitude, practices and oral disease among pregnant Chinese women in Singapore. Methods: A descriptive correlational study was conducted in pregnant Chinese women in Singapore. A questionnaire was used to collect data of oral health knowledge, attitude and practices. Plaque index scores were used to assess the oral health of subjects. Results: A total of 82 pregnant women participated in the study, out of whom 38% showed adequate oral health knowledge, nearly half of them achieved adequate and oral health attitude and practice scores while 34% had good Plaque index scores. The lower income group had higher experience of self-reported dental problems during pregnancy than those in the higher income group (p = 0.03). There were significant positive correlations between scores of oral health practice, attitude and oral health knowledge levels. The plaque index scores negatively correlated with the oral health practice scores (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Our findings provided evidence that oral health knowledge, attitude and practices among Chinese pregnant women were not optimal which implies the importance of promoting their oral health during pregnancy through the improvement of knowledge and attitudes. This would facilitate formulation and implementation of appropriate oral health promotion policies.